Just a Sonata Away
by Converse r life
Summary: Kathy is a normal teenage girl, but her world is turned upside down when she finds herself a long way from Nebraska and the long lost daughter of Eric&Ariel. Will she learn to accept her new life, or will she always always be a Nebraska girl at heart?
1. Chapter 1

"Stupid locker! Open!" The annoyed voice of a young teenage girl rang out, as she banged her fist against the metal. It didn't open. Furious that once again her locker was refusing her access when she had to leave, the girl kicked the metal as hard as she could, causing a small dent to form.

"Here, like this." A voice from behind her said a chuckle in his voice as he reached over and banged a certain spot on the locker. Then the door opened easily, as if it hadn't just been kicked moments ago.

"Um....thanks." Kathy said, feeling her cheeks grow hot. The boy who had just opened her locker was undeniably cute; and he had been the subject of most girl's conversations for weeks. With sandy hair that reached the back of his neck, blue eyes, an unblemished face, and pure white teeth, it was hard not to notice him.

Rumors said he had just moved to their small town from California because his acting career had folded when his agent dropped him like a bowling ball. But when were rumors any accurate? Taking a deep breath and pushing her glasses further up her nose, Kathy smiled shyly at the boy, who was leaning against the locker next to hers.

"How did you do that? I mean, open my locker. Usually it takes me a few good kicks for it to open." It was a sorry attempt at a joke, and Kathy uneasily laughed when he only smiled his gorgeous teeth at her.

"My old school used these types of lockers. My older brothers taught me how to weasel them open." Lucas said with a half smile, still looking over the girl. If she lost the glasses and let her blue eyes show more, she might be worthy of him....maybe got that overbite fixed. And while she was at it, she could probably do something other than let her waist long bright red hair just hang. But whatever. The bet was ask the worst looking girl out on a date, and blow her off. Lucas Jackson did not back down from bets like this, especially since the payout would be him getting an easy twenty bucks. Simple really.

"Oh...um..." Kathy was at a loss for words. Her heart was pounding, her mind was spinning....the hottest boy in school was talking to her! How could she not freak out?! This was so awesome! Was her hair frizzy? Were her glasses un-fogged? Did she look good? Were her two dollar butterfly earrings hanging correctly?

"So, I was wondering. If you're free this Friday, maybe you'd want to go see a movie...with me...." Of course she did, what girl didn't? He leaned in close to her so that he was face to face with her, and almost smirked as he saw her nod, star struck. Well, he did have that certain charm.

"There you are! Damn, why'd mom and dad give you a cell if you don't answer it?" Lucas straightened up immediately when he heard that voice, and looked up to see some boy who was at least a good 4 inches taller than Kathy come up behind her. His brown eyes flickered to Lucas and then to Kathy, and it all made sense suddenly. With a smirk, the older boy placed a protective hand on his sister, and looked Lucas up and down. "You shouldn't be asking my little sister out, before you ask our dad. He's a real hard ass when it comes to these things. Didn't even let Kathy play in the sandbox with boys when she was little. You better go now before he catches you talking to her, or else." Ryan said with a serious expression to drive the point home.

Lucas stiffened for a moment; nobody told him what to do. But when he saw a man, and thinking it was Kathy's father, start walking down the hallway, he leaned forward quickly to whisper into Kathy's ear "Talk to you tomorrow." And then he ran off.

"You idiot! Now he's never going to talk to me again because he thinks dad will kill him! What the hell is wrong with you?! Don't you know who that is?! He's _Lucas_ for god's sake!" Kathy scowled, removing her brother's hand off of her shoulder. He snorted and looked down the now empty hallway, imagining how he could ruin his sister's 'social life' when he was popular as a junior, and she was just a dork. A nobody to high school.

"Whatever. Sooner or later he was going to realize he was going out with a freak and then he'd dump you. Just sparing him the trouble of having to kiss you." Ryan mocked shuddered with a grin, and Kathy clenched both her fists. Her mouth opened to talk, but no words came out as she finally just stormed off to her brother's car, him right behind her.

"So are you going to talk to me at all on the way home?" Ryan asked as he started to drive on the normal road back to their house. When clearly his sister didn't even look at him from the shotgun chair, he grinned, knowing this wasn't a punishment, and turned on the radio to old hard rock music, the type Kathy hated.

"I'll wait here while you change for soccer." Ryan said with amusement, noticing how his sister still said nothing to him, and slammed the door behind her. Rolling his eyes at her drama show, he popped in a c.d. and just started listening to the music while he waited for his sister.

"URGH! I hate him!" Kathy said into her pillows angrily. But in reality, she knew she didn't. Maybe she wished she could hate her brother, but she couldn't. She'd grown up with him, hating him was just too hard. She was still mad at him though. But sighing she got up from her bed, her back pack still slung over her shoulder, she crossed her room.

Just for the fun of it, she decided to count her steps. One, two, three. One, two three. At the other side of the room now, she decided to do it again. One, two, EW! She jumped to the side to avoid what looked like a dead lizard in her room.....and the next thing she knew, she fell onto a marble floor. Hard.


	2. Chapter 2

That was going to hurt her back, she thought to herself, rubbing her head with her palm before sitting up. Did the floor of her room break and she landed in the kitchen? Not likely. Sitting up, Kathy looked around for a second, and then stood up, brushing herself off.

"Where am I?" She wondered aloud, looking around. High ceilings, marble floor, everything so neat and perfect.....was she in a museum? It seemed like it, from all the weirdness as she looked around. This was not her room at home....or any museum she'd ever been too. Maybe everything of Lucas asking her out was a dream...yes! Maybe she was on a class trip to the museum, she fell asleep, and then fell off, dreaming about what had just happened! Okay, seemed like a logical explanation.

The girl suddenly noticed the aching pain in her arm, and discovered her back pack still slung over one shoulder, like always. Why was it so heavy?! Getting down on her knees, Kathy started to search for a solution, but everything in her backpack was heavy. Well, maybe she could make it just a little bit lighter. Taking out a giant folder with papers half sticking out of it because there were too many to fit, Kathy zipped her bag back up and stood up, slinging it across her shoulders as she held the folder. Much better.

"I wonder...." Kathy's voice caught in herself, as she took her glasses off a moment. She could see clearly without them for some reason, but when she put them back on, her vision was blurry again. Maybe it was her good eyesight kicking in? Yeah, nothing so out of the ordinary, just maybe her eyes finally stopped needing glasses.

So, tucking her glasses back into her bag, she started to walk down the incredibly big hallway that was lined with portraits of places, people that she'd never seen in her life. She was too caught up in the portraits to realize that someone else up ahead wasn't paying attention either, and they slammed into each other. On the impact, the girl dropped her folder, and finally all the papers fell out and onto the ground. Wonderful.

"Sorry!" Kathy quickly responded, getting down on her knees to gather up the papers. Home works, tests, quizzes, practice sheets, and doodles all spread out across the floor, and Kathy kept her head low as she started to pick this up, her cheeks growing hot.

"It's alright. Here, let me help you." A melodic voice answered, helping gather up the papers that fell to the ground.

"Um...thanks." Kathy answered her voice unsure of itself. It's not that she didn't appreciate the help, it's just that whenever her books spilled out of her book bag and onto the floor, usually the person she bumped into hissed something like 'watch where you're going, freak'. That's why she never expected someone helping her pick up all her papers.

"Here you go." The melodic voice said, and Kathy was forced to look up if she wanted to take her papers. The result was mind blowing. The woman Kathy was staring at had red hair, oddly bright red hair, like her own. Then she had these big blue eyes, just like Kathy did. And her face, although more mature and knowing, looked....kind of like Kathy's. Maybe....this was just one of those look alike people. Yeah, that's it! Just another look alike moment. Standing up and unzipping her bag, Kathy started to stuff her papers back into it, while her 'look alike' was studying her face.

"I'm sorry, but have we met? You look familiar to me." Ariel said, studying the girl who was paying more attention to the strange bag strung over her shoulder than to the Queen standing in front of her.

"I don't think so. Maybe your kid goes to school with me." Kathy said with a shrug, before turning her attention back to her book bag. The zipper was stuck on something inside and she couldn't get it to budge. Great. First she humiliates herself in front of some museum worker dressed in a time period costume, and then the zipper on her book bag doesn't work. Great.

"I doubt it." Ariel said, flashing a smile at the thought of Melody going to the village school. It had been two years since she found out about her mermaid heritage, but somehow in that time she hadn't managed to fit in with any children her age, so the village school was out of the question.

Ariel looked at this girl in front of her again, just focusing on her face, not the strange clothes she was wearing. Blue eyes.....that red hair....that face....that birthmark right on the tip of her nose....she knew that mark. But from where? Perhaps Melody knew this girl....? Oh. OH!


	3. Chapter 3

"Harmony." Ariel said, the name rolling off her tongue in shock. The girl glanced up for a moment at Ariel before returning her gaze back to the stuck zipper.

"When mixed with melody creates the foundations of a song." Kathy filled in, resisting the urge to roll her blue eyes. That was something _everyone_ knew, even her, duh. Why wasn't this zipper zipping?!!

"No I mean....Harmony!" Kathy was suddenly swept into a giant hug, to which she didn't return. Her arms were limply by her side, and she looked up, surprised as to the sudden outburst. "I never thought I'd see you again! I'm so happy! The last time I saw you were just walking! I have to tell Eric! He'll be ecstatic! And Melody will be so happy to finally have her sister back!" Kathy went from being hugged, to being dragged by her arm to...somewhere.

"Sister?" Kathy asked a skeptical expression on her face. This was probably part of an act....right? Although she'd never been to a museum where they acted so weird, or did an act. Or had so many people walking around, looking at her funny. And they were all dressed in time period costume's too!

"You know! Your sister Melody! She's going to be so excited! And Eric, oh Eric is going to be so relieved. I'm just so happy!" Ariel kept talking over Kathy, not realizing that the teenager was looking at her skeptically.

"_Right._....._sister_...." This lady was a total nut job. But the funny thing was, any time someone was in her path, they immediately moved aside, as if this lady was the Queen or something. Right, a Queen. A nut job as the Queen, that's like giving a perverted freshman the world and saying 'rule it as you see fairly'. Something's you just don't do.

Kathy was suddenly pushed through a door, and she stumbled inside, trying not to trip over her untied converse shoelaces. Instead of tripping over her shoelaces though, she tripped over air and landed on her stomach, as her back pack landed with a thud on her back.

"Ow. I know it takes skill to trip over air, but does it have to hurt so much when you land?" She wondered, standing up and grabbing her back pack, which she swung painfully back over her shoulder. That's when she noticed two people staring at her.

One was a man, with jet black hair and an amused expression on his face. He had blue eyes, but they weren't as big as hers, Kathy knew that for a fact. Despite the fact he was probably in his late twenties, he was kind of....hot.

The other person was a girl, about Kathy's height with jet black hair also. But it was her face that got Kathy. Her face was a mix between the man and the crazy lady, but that's not what shocked the teen. Beside's their obvious hair differences...Kathy felt as though she was looking into a mirror.

"Ariel? Care to explain?" Eric asked his wife with raised brows, as she slipped into his embrace for a moment, before pulling her lips away from his. He wrapped his arm around her waist, out of habit, and Ariel smiled a little at that.

"Don't you recognize your own daughter Eric?" Ariel's melodic voice said, and Eric stood shocked for a moment, before he looked closely at this girl. She had bright red hair, like Ariel's which was strange....those big blue eyes.....wait. That birthmark. The one on the tip of her nose, of course!

"Harmony!" Eric cried out, hugging the teenager, who again, held both her arms limply by her sides. Who were these people, and why did they keep saying 'harmony'? And why were they dressed so weird? This couldn't be part of the museum act....this didn't even seem like a museum! No displays, no screaming kids....no gift shop. "I thought we'd lost you all those years ago!" Eric's voice was muffled as he held he daughter close to him, happiness laced into every word.

"Whoa!" Kathy finally said, afraid of more hugging, taking this dude's arms off of her and backing up slowly. "Stop and...Rewind! For the last time, what are you guys talking about? Where am I? And what's happening?!" Kathy finally said, taking another step back. This was what the definition of weird was.

"Don't you remember us Harmony?! We're your parents!" Ariel said, taking a step forward towards Kathy, only to have the confused teen step back once more. Parents? What were they talking about?!

"No....you aren't. _My_ parents are probably wondering why I blew off soccer practice today, and they're probably waiting to ground me when they have to sign my science test....and report card." Kathy gulped at the last part, scared and thinking of what her parents were going to do to her when they saw her grades. She was already getting a C+ in English, a D- in Math, a C- in History, another D- in Spanish, and....a 38% in Science. They don't make grades that go that low. Just thinking of it made her heart skip a beat....and then another in fear.

"_Your_ parents?!" Ariel asked, bewildered. This was Harmony, her lost baby! Oh how she'd grown up! She was so beautiful! Just like her Melody.....except Harmony seemed as though she had no idea what she was talking about.

"Ariel, the last time she saw us she could barely stand without falling down. She probably doesn't remember." Eric said to his wife, seeing her distress. Although he had his own distress to think about.

"Oh! I forgot about that Eric!" Ariel said, her face re-lighting up.

"So....Harmony, if you don't remember, I'm your twin, Melody." Melody said, staring at her twin sister. She'd always wondered what this day would be like, when or if she'd meet her long lost sister.....somehow she'd always imagined her sister knowing she had a twin, and then everything was great. That wasn't the case with this girl.

"Twin?! No. No, no, no, no, no, no! I don't have a twin sister. I have a brother who two years older than me, and a total dick, but not a sister." Kathy said, and all of them gasped at her language.

"That's not an appropriate word to say, young lady." Ariel said sharply, and Kathy looked at her, and then tilted her head in confusion.

"What? Dick?" Kathy asked, as Eric took a quick intake of breath, and Melody just stared at the girl in shock. By now if she'd said that to her parents, she'd be grounded for, oh the next CENTURY!

"Yes, that word and every other swear." Eric answered sharply, and Kathy raised her red brows but said nothing. She just pursed her lips, and tapped her finger to her chin, thinking hard for a moment, before shrugging it off.

"Whateve's. I'll save it for the soccer field and school." Kathy said with another shrug, causing Ariel and Eric to both take sharp intakes of breath. Harmony was _not _going to swear as if she was a sailor, there were limits. But before either of them could jump in, Melody did first, sparing her twin.

"Mother....maybe you should explain what's happening. Maybe that will help Harmony remember." Melody said, never taking her eyes off the girl. She seemed so much more.....confident of herself, like she didn't care about petty things.

"You have a point Melody." Ariel said, with a smile to her daughter. Her youngest daughter now. Harmony had been born only seconds before Melody, but that still meant Harmony was older. "Twelve years ago, the both of you were just little babies in the nursery. Melody was still crawling, but you Harmony, you were already trying to walk on your little legs. I must have taken my eyes off of you for maybe two seconds Harmony, and then.....you were gone. I thought you were hiding at first, it _was_ a nursery filled with giant stuffed animals.....but I never found you. It was like you just disappeared....no trace of you ever found.....and then out of nowhere I literally ran into you and, well, I think the rest is obvious." Ariel said with a wink and a small laugh, but Kathy didn't laugh. She didn't wink back either. She just stayed completely rigid.

"You're wrong." The whisper was so quiet that Ariel barely heard it.

"What?" Ariel asked her daughter, looking up with confusion evident on her face.

"I said, you're wrong. _Thirteen_ years ago I was found in a funny looking dress in my brother's room. He started trying to scare me, I started crying, and my parents came in and found me. A month later they adopted me. The end."

"So you just appeared out of nowhere, and into your brother's room?" Melody asked, her voice filled with wonder. A baby princess goes missing, and she magically appears in some boy's room? That didn't make any sense.

"Yup. And he's been making me regret it ever since." Kathy grimaced at this, unintentionally rubbing her arm. Stupid pranks, stupid older brothers, stupid gullibility.

"Didn't you ever wonder why you just appeared? Or why you were wearing....'a funny looking dress'?" Ariel asked, and Kathy looked at her like she was crazy.

"Of course I have. But in the end, I didn't care who my real parents were, or why I just suddenly appeared in a three year olds room because....I like my life." Kathy said, at that was the moment her phone started to vibrate in her pocket. Taking her iPhone out of her pocket quickly, she looked at who was calling. Ryan. Ick, she'd better answer this.

"What do you want?" She demanded, putting him on speaker. It was so much easier to focus when there wasn't a phone pressed up against her ear.

"Where are you? If you're going to blow off soccer practice, you should have told me. I've been waiting for you for like an hour!" Ryan's clearly angered voice ran out of the phone, and Kathy rolled her eyes, not noticing how Ariel, Eric, and Melody all had huge gaping mouths.

"It's been twenty minutes, Drama Queen." Kathy clarified, annoyed. She hated her brother calling her and being mad, but then again, when was he not mad at her?

"Whatever. Come downstairs already, will you? I don't want to spend my entire day being your chauffeur; I have better things to do freak." Ryan answered, and one could hear his fingers tapping in impatience.

"No can do." Kathy said after a moment's pause, looking around the room. How did she tell him she had probably hit her head and this was a dream? Shaking her red hair out, she continued her sentence to make everything seem like it was normal. "While you were waiting for me you could have made sure you didn't smudge your lipstick Drag Queen." Kathy said with a super sweet voice that could give anyone the chills.

"Shut up!" The voice on the other end growled, even angrier now. "Fine, then I'll come upstairs and drag you down by your hair. You've got 2 minutes." He said in a growl of a voice, but then stopped a moment, changing his tone to mimic his sister's sweet voice. "Oh and little sister? Mom and Dad checked _Edline_ and saw your grades. They're going to kill you." And with that the line clicked off, and Kathy sighed, stuffing her phone back in her pocket. Great, not only was she in a freakish coma dream, she was also going to be killed in it. Could life be any worse?

"Was that....your brother?" Melody was the first to break the silence, staring intently at Kathy who nodded and grimaced. She didn't know what the strange device Harmony had just used to talk to worked, or how her brother's voice came out from it, but she knew by what he said that she wasn't in any small amount of trouble.

"Unfortunately. I tried convincing my parents to trade him to the circus for a pet monkey, but for some reason they keep saying no." Kathy said with a sigh, as Ariel and Eric laughed at that. Melody didn't. She might not have any friends her age, but she knew that from how her brother sounded it must have not been easy growing up together.

"It's a shame they never went for the idea." Eric said with a wink, as Ariel fought back giggles. Teenagers were actually kind of funny.

"I know right? And after everything he put me through, they still won't budge!" Kathy said, not trying to hide her annoyance at the last sentence. Ariel couldn't help it, she was curious about her oldest long lost daughter and she had to know what that boy had put her through.

"What do you mean by what he put you through?" Ariel asked a smile on her lips as she remembered her own sisters. They had gotten along pretty well for seven different girls, and it was rare that there was an actual fight between them.

"Let's see. Up until I was twelve he would smash my face into dirt, sand, mud, whatever, and make me eat it. If I didn't, he would punch me so hard that I was sore for a week. If I tattled, he would do the exact same thing." Kathy started, remembering those horrific days when she had no choice but to swallow whatever was in her mouth. "I'm immune to swallowing dirt now." Kathy said with a thoughtful expression on. What she wasn't expecting was Ariel to throw her arms around her and hold her close to her. It was that moment Melody had an idea, and she slipped out of the room unnoticed.

"My poor baby!" Ariel murmured, hugging her Harmony close to her. How could that boy do such things to her baby! That was awful!

"I'm not your baby!" Kathy said wrenching herself free of Ariel's arms. She was greeted by shocked stares and faces that had pity all over them. "Look, I don't know who this 'Harmony' is, but I'm not her! For all I know, I fell from the sky thirteen years ago and was adopted by _my_ parents back at home. I'm not someone's twin, and I'm definitely not your daughter, okay? My name is Kathy, which is short for my full name, _Katherine_. My birthday is December 21, 1994, I'm a freshmen in high school, and I was just asked out **on a date** by the _hottest_ boy, so if you don't mind, I'm going back to my life now!" Kathy finally shouted, angered as she back up, away from these people. She had to get back home, she didn't care if she'd be grounded for all of life, she had to go!

Melody slipped back into the room just to catch the end of Kathy's yelling. Mother looked torn between hugging her and staying put, and Dad....Dad just looked shocked. No one _ever_ yelled in her family, not even when they're mad, they talk it out. She'd have to do this now or never. So, holding up a stuffed animal bear, she tossed it to Kathy, who caught it easily and stared at the thing.

"A teddy bear?" Kathy said, her mind reeling. What did a teddy bear have to do with her coma dream? And why did it seem so familiar.....?

"Remember now?" Melody asked, staring at her twin. She'd grown up all her life knowing she had a sister....somewhere. But this girl, her twin didn't even know what her real name was until now. And as Kathy looked up she saw something in her eyes; shock. She dropped the bear from her hands in a moment, and her eyes flickered between Ariel, Eric and Melody.

"Oh shit." Kathy said, before her eyes rolled back and she passed out, falling straight forward. Vaguely she could hear the name 'Harmony' being called, but that didn't concern her. Harmony was someone one else.....not her....and with that she was unconscious.


	4. Chapter 4

"What the hell?" Kathy whispered, sitting up in a bed. The room was dark, and for a moment, she thought she was back at home, late for school. But turning to her left frantically to look at the time on her alarm clock....she realized there _was_ no alarm clock. What time was it? This wasn't her room! Where were the poster's of hot guys, or-or her mountains of books littering the floor? Where was she?!

Letting her eyes adjust to the dark for a moment, she jumped out of the bed. At least she was still in her skinny jeans and Woodstock tee that hugged her curves a little. But she wasn't wearing blue converse she realized....she was just wearing socks. Shaking her head out, she timidly walked towards what looked like a balcony.

Pushing the curtains aside just a little she was greeted with the harsh glare of the sun. Letting her eyes now adjust to the light, she realized she could see the sea from here....perfectly. A great view in fact, like it was right in front of her, all she had to do was go out on the balcony.

Hm, she'd never been in the sea before....or seen it. The ocean too for that matter. When you lived in the middle of the small Nebraskan town of Amherst and never gone out of the country (except to Canada once, but that doesn't count) you really didn't see much of the world.

"Whatever." Kathy muttered to herself, going back to the bed, but leaving the curtains a little open so she could see where the light switch was. Her book bag was leaning up against the bed on the floor, and her blue converse were neatly lined up next to her book bag, along with another pair of shoes that looked....old fashioned.

The teenager looked for a moment to the right side of the bed and saw a nightstand and a piece of paper on top. Curious as to what the paper was, she walked up and took it in between her fingers.

Dear....Cathy,

Finally you're awake! More than likely Melody is at the beach, go and join her if you feel well enough.

With love,

Ariel & Eric

p.s. I laid out one of Melody's dresses for you to wear; it's on the bed if you haven't noticed it already!

P.P. S. My mother doesn't know I wrote an extra 'ps' so don't let her see this note! I'm at the beach....wait, do you even know how to get to the beach?! Probably not. I'll draw a map for you just in case you get lost because it's a big palace. And while you're on the way to the beach, don't do anything stupid!

Melody

Kathy stared at the hastily drawn map for a moment, and then re read the note, at least five times straight. They misspelled her name! It was Kathy with a k! It wasn't a dream! Palace?! What?! Something was weird. Very weird. But then again, she'd never been to the beach before, and it seemed like fun. She looked to the foot of the bed, and it was true, a dress had been laid out for her.

But it looked like dresses people from the olden days used to wear. It was long, at _least_ reaching to her feet, with poofed sleeves a collar and the worst part: it was pink.

Kathy, in all rights was a tomboy. Oh she could get dressed up every now and then in a _sexy_ dress, but she liked wearing a pair of shorts and an oversized tee shirt any day. Her parents hadn't wanted to stifle her creativity, so they had let her run around like her brother. They let her get dirty, scrape her knees, climb trees, and they didn't usually hadn't forced her into wearing dresses. But sometimes they did force her.

Kathy looked once more at the dress, before deciding on one answer in her mind. No. Absolutely not. She was going to wear her clothes she had on now, skinny jeans, converse, and her tee. Besides, she couldn't get wet without a swimsuit....right?

Stuffing the note into her bag, she tied back on her converse and ran her fingers through her hair, not bothering to look at herself in the mirror. She wasn't much for brushing out her hair when she could just pull it back....not that she really ever did.

Knowing how to be invisible because of years of practice. There was just one rule of being invisible while still in plain sight, don't attract attention to yourself, and no one will notice you. Too bad for some reason that rule didn't apply here. Every time she turned her head, her just saw people stopping in their tracks and gawking at her, and when she turned her back she could hear the quiet whispers. At first her cheeks tinged a light shade of pink, but then she remembered something. This was no different than high school! As long as you let them seem as though they don't get to you, they'll stop....eventually. Just keep your head down and walk forward, that's all you have to do to survive this, just walk. So she did. And finally she made it to the sand of the beach.

She could see Melody's shoes carelessly tossed aside on the marble steps that lead right to the water's edge. Water. Pure blue water, not chlorinated or anything! Wow! Sitting on the steps she took off both of her converse and stuck her socks in them before jumping over to the dry sand. She wasn't really sure about the sea, although it was tantalizing. Her fingers itched for her sketchbook and pencils so she could sketch the see lapping onto the marble steps before her....but she had left her sketch pad in her book bag. Next time, she promised herself.

Rolling her skinny jeans up to her knees she watched the water curiously, but didn't go close to it. After seeing the movie jaws at least a hundred times....well it kind of made her a bit scared. She certainly didn't want to be shark chow, but it was as if the waves were calling her to them, begging her to step in.

"What are you watching?" A soft voice behind Ariel asked, and she didn't even turn back to see who the owner of the voice was. She just knew from after all these years of marriage who it would be.

"Harmony." Ariel said with a sigh, looking at her daughter through the window. Of course the girl had refused to wear Melody's dress, of course she had. But she couldn't just run around in pants and a tight shirt like a boy! Even boys didn't wear shirts like that though! Or such skinny pants.

"Oh? And what about her?" Eric asked, wrapping his hands around his wife's waist before looking out the window to Harmony. Wow. That was a lot of leg she was showing there on the beach. Too much skin for society and for Eric as a father as far as he was concerned.

"It's not just her legs Eric.....it's just that, well look. She won't even go near the sea, she's nothing like Melody....or what I was like at her age." Ariel sighed again, leaning her head against her husband's chest for a moment, closing her eyes. Eric took his gaze off of Harmony and just focused on Ariel.

"Ariel, she was lost to us for twelve years, she probably doesn't even remember the sea. And she barely knows who we are, or who Melody is for that matter. Just wait a little while, she'll warm up." Eric said softly as his chin rested above her head. He looked back out the window, but didn't see a teenage girl sitting on the sand. He didn't see....anything. No one was at the beach. "She's not at the beach."

"What?!" Ariel said, a bit of panic reaching into her voice. Not again! She couldn't have disappeared! They only took their eyes off of her for a minute at most! No! She had only been home for 2 days! And one of those days she completely spent sleeping! No!

"No....she's back out there again. I think she had just gone inside." Eric said, and Ariel sighed in relief. His relief mingled with hers as they musingly watched her sit crossed legged on the sand and take out a notebook. After skipping a few pages, it seemed as though she had finally found the page she wanted. She whipped out a writing utensil....and either was drawing or writing on the sand.

"What is she doing?" Ariel found herself asking, and she watched with Eric as a wave came up, on it, Melody, Tip and Dash. Hastily the parents saw as their daughter snapped the notebook shut, and hid it behind her back so they couldn't see it. Why? Was it special?

"That was so much fun!" Melody giggled, in the water happily with her two best friends, Tip and Dash. At least _they_ didn't judge her or keep her out of games because they thought she was weird.

Then she noticed Harmony sitting on the sand, her fingers playing with the sand as though she'd never seen sand before. But only one hand was playing with the sand, paying no attention to Tip, Dash, and Melody mind you. The other hand was....hiding something behind her back. A diary? Maybe....but Harmony just didn't seem like the kind of girl to keep a diary.

"Ah Melody? Who's the kid?" Tip asked, puffing his chest out. Slowly before Melody could answer, Kathy raised her head more to see....a penguin? But...don't penguins only live in cold places like....zoos? And why was there a walrus next to the penguin, and Melody? Weren't walrus's known for being extremely violent creatures? But...the penguin talked! She heard every word, clear as a bell, he had talked!

"Y-You can talk?!" Kathy asked, dropping the sketch book from behind her back. Instead of getting closer to the penguin she stayed away, backing up on the sand even. Talking penguins, yep, she was in a coma dream.

"Well of course he can talk silly! How else would he tell us what to do?" Dash asked, laughing as Tip shot him a look.

"A-A-and you can talk too?! B-but you're a penguin! And you're a walrus!" Kathy said, shock echoing off her voice. Melody titled her head as she looked at Harmony for a moment, realizing that this was the first time she'd ever heard an animal talk to her. Or at least....an animal that lived near or in the sea.

"And you're a human. Glad we're acquainted." Tip said, turning back into the water, with Kathy still staring at him in shock.

"This here's Tip, and I'm Dash. You look just like Melody you know!" Dash said, being the more polite one. Tip snorted, crossing his fins in front of his chest but said nothing.

"Guys this is Harmony. She's my twin." Melody explained, and Tip turned back to look at Kathy who was still far away from any contact with a talking penguin.

"Melody, you never told us you had a _twin_!" Dash said, staring wide eyed at Kathy who shrunk away from the giant thing.

"It's a long story." Melody explained, before turning to face Harmony who for some reason was hugging her legs against her chest, not making any attempt to move closer to the water.

"Aren't you coming in? The water's great today!" Melody said with a smile, shaking out her wet hair that had stuck to her face. Harmony shook her head, and Melody frowned. "Why not?"

"I've never been in the sea before." Kathy explained, and Melody's eyes popped out of their sockets along with Dash and Tip as they stared at her. She seemed about Melody's height, probably same build. If it wasn't for the hair and birthmark on Harmony's nose, she'd look just like Melody!

"Why? Are you a spy?! Can you not get wet or else you'll melt?!" Tip was wide eyes as he said sincerity ringing through his voice as Dash pushed him backwards, away from talking.

"Never?" Dash was answered by a nod of the head, and then he continued. "Why not?" If she was Melody's twin, why had she never been in water? And he'd never even seen this girl before!

"Because I live in Nebraska." Kathy answered, sighing. It's not that she hated her state, it's just that she wished there was more to it than small towns of nobodies. Like Miami, or Hollywood, or New York City, why didn't it have that sparkle and shine to it?

"Oooh. Where's that?" Tip asked, unable to contain himself. Melody was quiet throughout all of this, staring at her twin carefully. By now if she had never been in the sea before she'd be swimming around in it happily. Unless she couldn't swim.

"It's.....far away. But there's no sea or ocean there to swim in." Kathy explained, not even daring to go near the water. It wasn't just Jaws that had an impact on her, it was all those movies where the pretty blond goes swimming and never comes out again. Creature from the black Lagoon, Cartoons, and Documentaries.....she always wished she could go to the sea, but when actually here, she didn't want to be. She felt safer in a pool, surrounded by life guards, or in the camp lakes when she was forced to wear a life jacket at all times, plus there were life guards there too.

"Can you swim?" Melody asked, and was greeted by a look that made her wonder if this was her real twin or not.

"Of course I can! Just because there's no sea, doesn't mean there aren't pools." Kathy said with a smile to herself at the thought. Her mother used to have to drag her out of the pool so she could eat dinner; she never wanted to leave the water.

"Then come on in! The waters great today!" Melody said, but only got a shake of the head in return.

"No thanks." Kathy said out loud, before muttering under her breathe "I like living."

"Are you sure? The water's really nice." Dash said, but Kathy never got a chance to answer, because it was that moment she noticed Ariel on the marble steps, an eyebrow arched as she looked from Melody to Harmony.

"Melody, Harmony, dinner." She said, but her eyes focused in on only Harmony. What was that girl hiding?! A diary? A story book?

"Okay." Melody sighed, standing up in the water as her mother gave her a smile and then turned to go back inside where she wouldn't get wet.

"Bye Melody! See ya tomorrow!" Dash called to her, waving a flipper as he disappeared under the water, Tip right at his fins. There was something about Harmony that made them feel.....so weird. Like it was just her presence there that made them uncomfortable. Laughing at themselves for entertaining such silly thoughts about Melody's twin sister, they swam on. Still, that little voice in the back of their heads told them it was true.

"Aren't you coming?" Melody asked Harmony, pulling on her shoes. Mother hated it when she ran around barefoot in the castle; she was always worried that Melody would hurt herself.

"Huh?" Kathy asked, turning her head and shaking it for a moment. She'd been so lost in thought she hadn't realized Melody had already gotten out of the water, and was standing on the steps of the castle. Her words registered finally into Kathy's mind, and she sighed.

"I'll be there in a few minutes. 'K?" Kathy said, knowing to herself that it'd be a lot longer than that. She hadn't gotten a real opportunity to sketch, and then use her worn down pastels in awhile. She probably should get some new ones because hers were considerably worn down, and now she was barely getting any color out of them, but she was savoring these pastels until the last one broke.

"Okay." Melody said, still unsure of Harmony. Was she not hungry? Or did she just want some time alone? Maybe she felt embarrassed? Whatever it was, it didn't seem as though she'd be coming to dinner any time soon. Turning on her heel, Melody went back inside the palace, comforted with the knowledge that Harmony would have to eat sometime.

When Kathy heard the shutting of the door, she knew she could sketch now without being interrupted by questions. The setting sun looked so beautiful over the waves, the oranges and pinks falling just in the right place.....excited to try something new, Kathy started to let her hand move across the page for awhile, trying to catch the exact scene with her pencil, and then with her pastels. She didn't notice how the sun was barely showing now, and that evening was upon her. She just kept on with her pastels, using the image in her mind to use the right colors. But it's not like she got distracted....and her distraction led to musical notes drawn across the page, chords and lyrics adjacent to the notes.


	5. Chapter 5

"Your dinner is cold." Ariel said softly, startling the young teen. She smiled apologetically at the girl, and gestured towards the palace, hugging her arms in the process. Evenings always brought cooler weather, but it seemed as though Harmony didn't mind the cold weather one bit.

"Oh! Sorry! I wasn't all that hungry anyway.... I kind of lost track of time, but the sunset was so beautiful....I just had to sketch it." Kathy said realizing that the sun was no longer out. Sighing wistfully to herself, she looked down at her colorfully smudged fingers, but then smiled when she saw her drawing.

"May I see?" Ariel inquired, hopeful. She wanted to be a part of her daughter's life, since she already missed twelve years of it.

"Um....sure. I guess." Kathy said, a bit embarrassed as her cheeks flushed pink and she handed the pad to Ariel, who stared at the drawing in wonderment. Ariel started flipping through the pages, looking at every half finished sketch, every pastel drawing in amazement. Kathy, sensing her thoughts, frowned as she looked at one of the half finished sketches of a three year old her on a bicycle with training wheels.. "They're not very good..." The girl said, as Ariel's fingers slowly went across the pages.

"No, they're wonderful." Ariel murmured in appreciation. "Is that....music? You don't seem like you would compose." Ariel said, looking closer at the page. Notes lined up across the pages, adjacent to the drawings, and even some lyrics!

"I get kind of bored....and then these chords get stuck in my head and the only way to get them out is write them down." Kathy said sheepishly, her cheeks growing red as she ducked her head modestly.

"Do you sing?" Ariel asked softly, wondering if her other daughter had inherited her love for song as well. Sebastian would be thrilled to finally know a teenager who didn't mind writing scores of music, instead of off adventuring and getting in trouble.

"No." Kathy said it with sincerity, a bit uneasy at the question. A lot of people asked her that, but she never sang out loud. Unless she was sure no one and that meant **no one **was around for about a mile radius, she never sang a note.

"Oh. Well do you play an instrument?" Ariel wanted to get to know Harmony better, but the girl barely gave her a chance.

"No." How could she explain that her guitar was her life? That without those drum beats that she poured out she would be nothing? How could she explain that when her fingers touched the piano keys, her heart skipped a beat at the melody?

"Oh." What a shame that her daughter could write music, but couldn't play it. "Why don't you come inside? It's cold out here." Ariel said quietly, but Harmony only looked at the sea with wistful eyes. Ariel knew those eyes, the same ones she had seen Melody have when there had been a wall, or when she herself was only sixteen and dreamt of land.

"I'm used to the cold. Nebraska has long winters." Kathy said with a grin to herself, thinking of all the times she'd been in snowball fights, or sledding down hills with her best friends.

"Melody did say something about you mentioning where you were." Ariel murmured mostly to herself. Nebraska? Where was that? As a queen she'd heard of many places far and wide on land....but never Nebraska. "If I showed you a globe, would you be able to point out where it is?" Ariel asked in a hopeful voice. She wanted to know where her daughter had been all these years....but she had no idea where Nebraska was.

"Um....yeah." Kathy said, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Of course she knew where Nebraska was on a globe, map, whatever. They taught her that in elementary! Duh! Shaking her red hair out, she unrolled her jeans, letting them fall down back to the heel, and stood up. Taking one last look at the sea, she let the image overwhelm her mind, and followed Ariel back of the stairs.

"But Dad! Are you even sure she's my twin?! She's so...._weird_." Melody said, scrunching up her nose in disgust. She was in her father's study, sitting on a couch and playing with her hair. He was now saying she should spend more time with Harmony, teach her everything she didn't know, become friends. But if she ever wanted to make friends, she certainly wouldn't get them by hanging around Harmony. Honestly, that girl was so....weird. What Melody didn't notice was the door of the study opening, and that her twin had heard every word, clear as a bell.

"You think I'm weird?" Came a soft voice, which made Melody sit up fast and look toward the doorway, were a lanky teenager stood, leaning against the door post. Her mother walked breezily into the room, shooting Melody a frown and a face that said were-going-talk-later before going to stand next to her father who was leaning against his desk.

"I--um--uh..." Melody said, stuttering for words. Harmony walked into the room, her eyes taking in everything, but her lips in pressed tightly together. She stopped next to a bookshelf, her eyes scanning the various titles before she slowly turned around to face Melody with a half smile.

"I _am_ weird, and the strange thing about that is that...I like it." Kathy said with a soft laugh to herself, spinning on the heel of her converse for a moment before flopping on the couch next to Melody. She sat up quickly, but not without a grin on her lips.

"You _like_ being weird? But-but-why?!" Melody asked, in awe and shock. Her parents said nothing, letting the girls talk this out themselves, but also learning about their long lost daughter.

"I was an outcast those first days of middle school, the weird girl. I felt so....left out....of all the new clique's that had formed over the summer. I just didn't fit in with anyone, and for awhile, I felt as though I never would. But then, I started talking the other outcast's, and then....viola I had a small group of friends." Kathy started, forcing those horrible first days of the sixth grade out of her mind. "It's been three years since all of that, and my friends and I realized that....being ourselves was more important than being someone else. I know, I know, you've heard that line a _million_ times from your parents, because that's what mine used to say....I never believed them until I saw for myself how awful it was trying to be someone I wasn't." Kathy said quietly, a half smile on her face at the thought of it.

"How old were you when you were in....middle school?" Melody asked softly, and Kathy flinched noticeably. Just talking about those days brought back the horrible memories. Walking out of the lunch line with a tray full of food, and looking around for a place to sit....only to realize that there wasn't. Her best friends from elementary suddenly broke off, each entering different cliques, and never speaking to her anymore, and the worst part was that she had no idea why.

"I was eleven." Kathy said softly, squeezing her eyes shut at the memories that came flooding back to her. The tears, the terror, the awkwardness, how she was made fun of for being so thin in P.E., everything started to all come back. NO! She wouldn't let those memories haunt her still! Shut the dam back up and don't let those memories come back, she couldn't go through it all again in her mind. She just couldn't.

"Wouldn't that be only....two years ago though?" Ariel asked, sitting on the couch next to Harmony. She would have loved to hug her, hold her, and tell her it wasn't bad anymore. Be a mother....but someone had already done that in her place. She saw how Harmony opened her eyes, and her face went completely blank, nothing portraying what she had just said. Like a dam almost, holding back those terrible memories, if only for a little while.

"I might have a D- in math, but I'm pretty sure that fourteen minus three is eleven." Kathy answered, humor filling her eyes where once sadness had been only moments before. How did she do that? Bury her feelings? It was as if she didn't know what she had just said before.

"We're only thirteen Harmony. Our birthday is August 23." Melody said, and Kathy sighed as she shook her head, and rested her on the back of the couch. Eric and Ariel said nothing, as somehow during when Harmony was talking Eric had moved to the couch, next to Ariel, and they were all staring at Harmony intently.

"A school birthday. Wonderful." Kathy said finally, a crooked smile on her face. Ariel and Eric let out relieved breaths, but still turned to her with questions in their eyes, as Melody got up from the crowded couch and went over to the bookshelf.

"So you realize you're real name is Harmony and your our daughter?" Eric asked carefully, and Kathy let her head dip forward for a moment, thinking hard. Her fingers were brought up to her lips, and she started to bite her nails, a habit that drove her mother crazy and that she'd picked up from her older brother when she was young. Thinking for a moment, she brought her nails away from her mouth and onto her arm, digging them in until she felt the pain in her arm, wincing slightly and grinding her teeth together to not yelp in pain.

Ariel saw this, and her eyes filled with worry and panic, as she gently took her daughter's hand in her own, keeping in away from her arm which now had tiny slivers of blood starting to rise. "Why did you do that?" She asked softly, still holding the girl's hand firmly in her own, as Melody turned around for a moment to see what was happening.

"You can't feel pain in a coma." Kathy said softly staring at her arm with wide eyes. This wasn't a dream. This was real. Her name was Harmony. She lived by the sea. She had a twin.

"I know." Eric said, staring at his daughter. The girl started taking ragged breaths, coming faster, and faster until....tears. Breaking off her hand from Ariel, she ran back to her room, not willing to cry in front of these people. She wouldn't, couldn't, adopted daughter, twin, Harmony, sea....words haunted her mind as she jumped on the bed and sobbed her heart out. Ryan....Mom....Dad....her friends.....all gone....all lost.


	6. Chapter 6

"Somehow I never pictured telling her that this would happen." Ariel sighed, watching as her daughter's shadow disappear from the walls completely. The girl had run out in tears, but not before Ariel had seen the look on her face. Fear. Pure unwritten fear all across it.

"That's because we never imagined seeing her again." Eric said back to his wife, watching with a small sadness in his eyes as Ariel leaned into him on the couch.

"And that's because she was supposed to be dead." Melody clarified with an evil grin to herself. Ariel's eyes fluttered open in an instant and she sat back up on the couch, and looked to her other daughter with anger in her eyes.

"Melody." She said sharply, and the teenager froze, knowing that tone anywhere. That was the tone that usually got her grounded for saying something that she shouldn't have said. Or doing something she shouldn't have done. "She's still your sister, and you'll treat her like it. And don't think I didn't hear it when you said you thought she was weird."

"Your mother's right Melody. You're lucky Harmony doesn't care about all of that." Eric said in a calmer voice to Ariel's anger. He squeezed her hand to tell her silently to calm down. Ariel's wrath was the worst thing anyone could ever be under, really. She swore her father had a worse temper, but as Eric had never seen the sea king angry, he wouldn't know.

"Well it's not like it's not true." Lately Melody had turned into a real teenager, which had been just awful for Ariel and Eric. The mood swings, the sharp tongue....now with _two_ teenage girls how would they survive it? Then again, King Triton had survived seven teenage daughters.

"Go to your room, _now_." It was all Ariel could do not to yell. She hated yelling, she really did, so she never did it that often. Melody's face scrunched up in frustration, which would later turn into tears as she ran out of the room quickly. Ariel and Eric sighed deeply, both at the same time.

"Which one do you want to take?" Eric asked softly, stroking the red hair that was falling down Ariel's back. Amazing after all these years their love hadn't changed for one another in the slightest.

"I'll talk to Harmony. You get Melody." Ariel sighed, savoring the next few moments with her Eric for a minute. She let her head rest on his chest, taking in how he smelled, so she could remember it when she was trying to comfort a confused teenager who just found out that her life wasn't real and that _this_ was her real life.

"Alright. Come on Ariel." Eric said, forcing himself basically to move away from his wife. He didn't want to. But if he wasn't responsible, Ariel would be with him on the beach right now....on a blanket....in the moonlight....actually that didn't seem so bad.

"Come on lover boy." Ariel teased, as she saw what was in Eric's eyes. Moving herself off of his lap, she kissed him lightly on the cheek, before skipping off to Harmony's room, which was next to Melody's. The rooms had been set aside for the girl's since they were born, already decorated and all.

It wasn't hard to find Harmony sitting on her bed. Surprisingly, she wasn't sobbing as Ariel thought she'd be. She was looking through a striped journal, silently flipping pages as tears fell down her face. Ariel sat on the bed, unsure of what to say, but it was Harmony who started the conversation.

"You know, my friends and my older brother made this for me. Because I was so sad that we were leaving middle school, and that we'd no longer be 8th graders anymore. Secretly, they made this entire journal and gave it to me on the last day of school. I still remember them laughing as I looked at them like they were crazy because they were handing me a striped journal, and I remember starting to cry because it was the best gift I ever could have gotten." Kathy--or Harmony said softly, her fingers running down the pages of funny quotes.

"I'm sorry." Was all Ariel could say, knowing that it was probably awful for her daughter to lose such great friends. That's when Harmony started to sob, staring at a picture of her and her friends in swimsuits, all their arms linked together as a sign that they were in this together. They weren't anymore.

"It's not **fair**!" Harmony sobbed, throwing the journal to the floor in a moment of anger. "It's not fair." She whispered, as Ariel held her like a mother should, like she had been aching to do for years.

"Shh, it's alright. It's alright." Ariel murmured, stroking her hair in an attempt to soothe the teen. "I'm so sorry sweetheart. I'm so sorry." What do you say when you're long lost teenage daughter is a step away from hysterics because she just found out that her entire life.....was a lie. Her friends, her family, her sibling, all of that was gone. Yes she could make new friends, she had her original family back, and she had a twin....but that's not how she grew up.

"It's not fair. It's not fair." Harmony hiccupped, finally falling asleep against her real mother out of exhaustion. Ariel noticed her daughter finally nod off, and she smiled softly at how peaceful she seemed. Twelve years of not seeing her daughter hadn't prepared her for the shock of now seeing a gangly thirteen year old instead of that little baby who was trying to walk. Silently, Ariel tucked her into the bed, and kissed her forehead, wishing to God that for those twelve years she'd been her mother instead of some stranger.


	7. Chapter 7

"How's Melody?" Ariel asked, anxious as she saw Eric shut the door to the girl's room silently. Ariel had left Harmony's room not a moment before, debating whether to see Melody before she went to her own room with Eric.

"Just being a teenager." Eric sighed as her ran his fingers through his black hair, shaking his head at Melody's door before looking at Harmony's door for a moment. "And Harmony?" He wondered, and Ariel sighed, wrapping her hand in his out of habit, enjoying his touch.

"She fell asleep, but....I think it was just a shock to her to know who she really was." Ariel said quietly, walking with Eric to their own room. Almost everyone had retired for the night already.....and almost everyone had caught glimpses of Harmony and her....not so normal clothes, let's just say.

"At least she's back though." Eric said, a sigh of relief escaping him. When Melody became Princess of both land and sea, Harmony was supposed to be with her. It had barely been a month before that Harmony had just disappeared, and Ariel through grief for her lost child had become extremely overprotective of Melody. When Morgana had taken Melody.....Eric could remember what had been going through his head. 'No. No please, just leave her alone. We already lost our Harmony; please don't make us lose Melody.' If it hadn't been for Ariel's quick thinking.....he was sure Melody wouldn't be here right now.

"But at what cost?" Ariel answered, more to herself than Eric. Surprised, Eric turned to her with question written in his eyes, as he opened the door to their room, and shut it softly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean....Eric, do you remember those first days after I left the sea how...._homesick_ I was? At least I had the love of my life to help me through it, plus I was sixteen, I was more mature than a thirteen year old. But Harmony....Harmony left a world she knew with no recollection of her real home or family. If _I_ was overwhelmed by those first days on land, how do you think she feels?" Ariel stated softly, unlacing her dress and slipping out of it easily.

"What are you suggesting exactly Ariel?" Eric asked, raising a brow as he slipped into the bed, and waited for Ariel to do the same.

"That ball as her introduction into the kingdom....I don't know, maybe it might be too much for her. Maybe we should postpone it for about a month or so, to let her get settled in." Ariel said softly, running a brush through her red hair before coming into bed next to Eric and snuggling into him.

"Ariel, you know that's what I would want to do." Eric started, and Ariel's eyes happy at that. "But, I already was pushing it if the ball is Saturday. The whole kingdom wants to see her, get to know her Ariel....and I can't keep postponing it." Eric sighed as he saw a frown go onto Ariel's pretty features, and her caressed her cheek gently, and bit sheepish too. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I understand.....I just hope Harmony does too." Ariel sighed as she brought her gaze away from Eric and stared at the far wall, not willing to meet his eyes at the moment.

"If she's got such a great mother I'm sure she will." Eric teased, trying to lighten the mood.

"You're just saying that because you want a goodnight kiss, don't you?" Ariel teased back, as Eric's soft laugh rang through her ears. He leaned down, and before Ariel knew it, she was caught in his embrace, and you know what? She returned it right back.


	8. Chapter 8

Kathy....err..._Harmony_ woke up early; she knew that for a fact as she looked over at the still dark sky. But she couldn't go to sleep, she wasn't tired enough. Besides, nightmares had been haunting her all night. Sighing to herself, she got up from the bed and went over to a chair at the very, very, far end of her huge room. At home....err..._Nebraska_ she'd always dreamed over a bigger room, because hers was cluttered to the extreme with books or anything else she found interesting and it wasn't all that big either. But this room--_her_ room, was huge! Never in her life had she expected to have a room this big, or live in a palace for that matter.

Reaching the chair, Harmony studied the dress from yesterday that was in her grip. Yeah right, like she was going to wear pink. But how to get another dress? Wait, from what she remembered about history class girls had dressing _rooms_....right? So that must mean...Melody has one! But where....hm...she had a few hours at most till daylight, so with a sly grin, she grabbed her iPhone as a light and the dress as she went out of her room, and into the hall.

Now, if she and Melody were twins, which would mean Melody's room would be close...and her dressing room probably adjacent. Well, the best place to check would be next door first. Tip toeing to the door next to hers, she quietly opened it and tip toed inside. This must be Melody's room, Harmony thought to herself realizing that it looked like an exact copy of her room. Everything was neat and in place, just like her room....but it wouldn't be for long. Harmony couldn't stand things being so neat, it scared her.

Where would her dressing room be? Maybe it was that door in the end of her room....that would make sense! Tip toeing even more carefully to the door, Harmony opened and closed it softly, and let her iPhone be the light....to a huge closet like room. Well, it was huge to her at least because her closet at home was maybe, half a quarter size of this room. Opening the giant wardrobe quietly, Harmony was amazed at how many dresses were there. Probably more in the drawers.....but is there a simple one....? Those looked like ball gowns....these looked like more simple ones. This one was blue! And it didn't have those puffy sleeves, okay; this one was like a tank top.

Taking the dress in her fingers, Harmony switched it for the pink one. She laughed silently, ran on her tiptoed feet and back to her room. With the light of her phone, she looked at the dress, and then what looked like a petticoat. Petticoat? How did she know that word? And how come she just _knew_ how to put it on? This was screwed up. Sighing to herself, she slipped the dress on and twirled around in it. It just didn't feel like her....unless she wore her converse! Converse with a dress, perfect way to bring twenty first technologies into the past. Or something like that.

Shaking her red hair out, she looked out the window for a moment, realizing the sun was about the rise. The perfect time of day. Grabbing her book bag, she quickly unzipped it and let her hand ruffle around till it grabbed what she was looking for. With it in her hands she ran down the halls, making sure her footsteps were quiet, and out to the sand.


	9. Chapter 9

"Melody, do you know where Harmony is?" Ariel asked her daughter with a hint of panic in her tone. Melody sat up in her bed and rubbed her eyes sleepily, before going back down and lying on her pillow.

"She's probably outside." Melody said, letting her eyes shut as she tried to go to sleep. Ariel sighed in relief, and looked down at her younger daughter with a smile.

"Get up Melody." She said, shaking the girl awake again. Melody groaned and hid under her covers, trying to get an extra five minutes of sleep in. Honestly, she _was_ a teenager!

"Five more minutes." The girl muttered drowsily, but she was overruled and the covers over her head were thrown off.

"I'm going to get Harmony. If you're not up by the time I'm back you'll be in trouble." Ariel said, smiling despite herself at how Melody looked. Black hair a mess and she refused to get up. Shaking her head, she kissed her daughter's forehead and got another groan in response. She quietly walked out of the room with a smile still on her face as she walked outside to the sea. There she spotted her daughter, quietly reading something.

"What are you reading?" A soft voice inquired, making Harmony practically jump out of her skin. Ariel smiled apologetically, but waited for an answer to her question. Harmony was silent for a moment, biting her nails as she looked out over the sea, her eyes portraying nothing that same wistfulness of the day before.

"Vampire Knight." Kathy said softly, smiling a little as she looked down at her book. Ariel's eyebrow's furrowed for a moment, thinking of that title.

"May I see it?" She asked, and Harmony shrugged as she put her book mark between the pages and handed up the book to Ariel. She started to flip through the pages, stopping at one but not understanding. She'd never seen pictures in black and white like they were here....she'd never seen a book that was so strange before.

"It's Japanese Manga. Sort of like a comic book, except in black and white. And you read from right to left." Harmony said, guessing her mother's thoughts. Everyone always questioned her what the book was, why it was so weird....she was just used to explaining. Besides, this was the twelfth Manga book in the series that she borrowed from the library back in Nebraska. She had watched the Anime show on YouTube, and curious she had gone to the book to read about the episodes in so much more detail.

"You like to read?" Ariel asked with some surprise, a bit shocked. It's not that she didn't like to read; it's just that during her youth exploring had always seemed more exciting than sitting down with a book. As a result, now an adult she didn't read for pleasure much. An occasional book maybe, but not very likely.

"Yeah. That's one of the reasons I'm such a geek." Harmony said with a smirk grin to herself. In truth, she wasn't so secure that those words still hurt her. Yes sixth grade was done and gone....but it wasn't just that. She had told Melody the good thing about having friends for outcast's...but no one knew the bad thing. All of her friends wished that they could be popular, even she. Oh they knew those girls were insecure, and that they had no lives because they gossiped...but that's who they wanted to be. The girls that ruled the school, the ones in the clique, but it weren't so. They had more fun being weird, yes, but....still deep down, every rumor, every teasing remark hurt them.

"You're not a geek. Don't say that." Ariel reprimanded in a light tone, trying to keep her voice from sounding too harsh. Harmony said nothing as Ariel handed her back the book, she just stared out at the sea, and her head tilted to the side as if she wanted to ask a question, but didn't know how.

"Whateve's." Harmony said with a sigh her eyes fixed on the book. Why couldn't life be like that? Like a book? Where the plot was already set, and all you had to do was skip to the end to read what finally happens?

"Come back inside; breakfast is going to be soon." Ariel said quietly to not alarm the girl.

"So this is all real?" Harmony asked as she looked up at Ariel who nodded her head. "I keep thinking I'm just going to wake up and I'll realize it was all just a nightmare." Harmony sighed, resting her chin on her knees.

"A nightmare? Why not a dream?" Ariel asked softly but carefully. Maybe Harmony coming back home wasn't such a good thing after all.....no what is she talking about?! Of course it's a good thing! It's just that she hasn't quite gotten used to things yet, that's all.

"This isn't my ideal dream. Disappearing suddenly from the world I grew up in--from everything I ever knew, and finding out that I'm some princess of another world. I know for most teenagers finding out your part of another family would be great.....but I'm not most teenagers I guess." Harmony sighed; her heart feeling like it was weighed down but a huge weight.

"How did you figure out you were a princess?" Ariel asked softly, her voice filled with wonder. The sound of the waves lapping against shore could be heard, but Ariel only focused on Harmony. What was it about her daughter that made her seem so mature? As if she was years beyond thirteen.

"I have ears." Harmony answered, her fingers drumming against the sand. She almost started humming, the beat and song lyrics so clear in her mind. But she stopped herself, and forced herself back into reality. "I guess I should eat some breakfast." She said suddenly, giving Ariel a small smile, which was returned as she stood up.


	10. Chapter 10

"Hey Harmony? Wanna go horseback riding after breakfast?" Melody asked, an inch from her sister's face and practically out of her seat at the table. Ariel and Eric exchanged a look to each other, and then back at the girls, wanting to know how this was going to turn out.

"You know, I could hit you so hard right now." Harmony said with dry humor, as Melody pulled back alarmed. "And besides, I haven't gone on a horse since I was eight."

"Why not?" Eric asked, and Melody scrunched up her nose as she stared her sister up and down. She wouldn't go into the sea, she won't go horseback riding....what did kids in Nebraska do for fun?!

"Last time the horse got spooked, threw me off, and stomped on my head. I cracked my skull." Harmony said, and Melody, Ariel, and Eric's eyes grew wide at that. A cracked skull?!

"You cracked your skull when you were eight?!" Ariel asked, and Harmony shrugged like it was no big deal.

"I've had a lot of near death experiences, that's just one of them. Like, last year at camp during archery I accidently shot my arrow through my rib cage. It just barely missed anything that could have made me die." Harmony said with another shrug, sipping the cup of water nonchalantly.

"How did you manage to shoot an arrow through your rib cage?" Eric asked wondrously, and Harmony shrugged.

"I was messing around with my friends. I was pretending to shoot myself because the instructor was so boring.....and I actually did." Harmony said with another shrug, an innocent look on her face as she looked up at her worried parents. But before they could jump in and talk, Melody started first.

"So....does that mean you'll come horseback riding with me?!" She asked, and Harmony shrugged like it was no big deal.

"Sure, whatever. Not like I've got anything else to do." She said with a snort, wishing that she had a guitar. Her fingers were about to play an imaginary guitar any moment, there were just so many chords in her head that she had to play out! Any instrument would do right now, even her voice! But she resisted to urge to break out into song and dance and tried to focus on reality. She didn't notice that Ariel and Eric exchanged apprehensive looks at what they were about to announce now.

"Actually, after breakfast Harmony you have a fitting for a new ball gown." Ariel started cautiously, and her teenage daughters looked at their mother with the same look; skeptical.

"Ball gown? Why would _I_ need a ball gown?" Harmony asked, and it dawned on Melody then why. She was about to state why, but Eric jumped in then.

"There's going to be a ball Saturday, a sort of introduction of you to the kingdom." Eric said, hoping to God that his daughter wouldn't take this the wrong way. She didn't. She quietly sat there for a moment, ignoring the stares of her family, and then sighed, realizing there was no way she could get out of this.

"Whatever. I guess I've got no choice." She said with another sigh, causing Ariel and Eric to give each other amused smiles.

"That's the spirit!" Ariel said with a laugh, and Harmony weakly laughed back, but deep inside, she was wondering how she was actually going to take this. Ball? She'd never gone to a ball before! She made jokes with her friends about people that went to balls, but now she was going to one?!

"You've never been to a ball?!" Melody spluttered out as her sister slipped back on her dress and flopped on the couch next to her and Ariel. Harmony had just finished getting measurements done for her ball gown, the seamstress leaving with the measurements to get right on the dress.

"I didn't even _know_ they still had those." Harmony said musingly, to Melody's shock and Ariel's wonderment. Didn't they have balls in Nebraska?! Even Ariel, who had spent most of her youth with no music, had in the year before she turned sixteen at least gone _some_ balls. But most of the time she just ditched them, finding all the dancing so boring.

"So does that mean you don't know how to dance?" Ariel asked, her lips pursed as she wondered about this. Dancing was a second language to her and Eric now, like a secret code that only the both of them knew. It was like a conversation, or the way her feet smiled even! When she was with Eric it was just like magic, just her and him in another world.

"I break dance.....and I know how to slow dance....with a really amazing guy.....during a slow song....and then sneak off to the woods...." Harmony sighed deeply, remembering her days at camp.

"You were allowed alone with a boy?!" Ariel asked, shocked. Her daughter, alone, in woods, alone, with a **boy**?!

"No! There counselors there! Duh." What Kathy didn't add is what the counselor's were usually _doing_ in the woods....and it wasn't making out.

"What's break dancing?" Melody asked quickly, changing the subject to spare her sister the twenty questions from their mother. Besides, she would ask her later.

"Break dancing is--it's kind of like---sort of like--what _is_ break dancing? Hm. That's like trying to tell a stranger about rock 'n' roll....you would have to listen to the music to know." Harmony said with a genuine smile because 'trying to tell a stranger of rock 'n' roll was a song lyric.

"So you would tell an orchestra to play 'rock 'n' roll and they would just _know_ what it was?" Melody asked, and Harmony laughed softly, grabbing her converse from the floor and starting to put them on.

"Rock 'n' Roll isn't usually played with an orchestra Melody. I don't really know how to explain it....you would just have to listen to that electric guitar to know." Harmony said with a wistful sigh.

"Electric guitar?" Ariel questioned with an eyebrow raised and skepticism heavy in her voice, causing Harmony to snap out of her moment, and back into the present.

"Never mind. Unless you've heard it, you wouldn't understand." Harmony said quickly, and then turned to a thoughtful Melody who was mulling this over. "Hey, didn't you want to go horseback riding or something?"

"Yes! Come on!" Melody said, jumping off the couch and grabbing her sister's arm, while Ariel smiled an amused smile. She wondered for a moment what 'rock 'n' roll' was, but then shrugged it off and went to find Eric.


	11. Chapter 11

Ariel found him at his desk in the study, looking over some papers, and not noticing that she walked in. Smiling to herself, Ariel snuck up behind him and kissed his cheek. She was about to turn away, when her wrist was caught and she looked down to see Eric's clearly amused expression.

"And where do you think you're going?" He teased, snagging her waist and sitting her on his lap. Ariel gasped for a moment at how fast he had done that, before she laughed lightly and leaned her head backwards against his shoulder.

"No where _now_." She teased, trying to get off his lap. Eric only smiled at that, before lifting her up easily in his arms and started spinning around, as if she weighed no more than a feather. Ariel gasped in delight as she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding on tightly. "Eric! Put me down!" She laughed, throwing her head back as Eric only grinned more.

"Not until I get my kiss, my fare lady." He said with an easy laugh, still spinning Ariel around. It was moments like these that made him know for a fact that he couldn't live without her, not one day.

"Oh?" Ariel asked, not really noticing how Eric's spinning slowed down so he could see her better. "And if I don't?" She wondered, smiling despite herself at that. How was it possible to live without her Eric?

"You're in no position to be asking me that." He said with another grin at his wife, that grin turning into a fully fledged smile in just seconds.

"True, so true." Ariel laughed, smile lighting up her pretty features. "I guess, if I have no choice, then I'll have to kiss you." Ariel said, leaning down her head to reach Eric's lips. This is what made her never regret the decision to become human.

"I swear to god Melody, if I have to ride side saddle, I will _so_ kill myself." Harmony threatened, as the Adam, the stable hand got their horses ready. Melody only laughed lightly, and shook her head at her sister.

"No, I promise you won't have to ride side saddle. I don't even think _I've_ even ever ridden side saddle before." Melody said with another light laugh, as Adam brought the horses around, all saddled up.

"Here you are ladies. Stormy for you Melody, and Strawberry for you.....Harmony." Adam's tongue stumbled over the last name, not used to using it in so long.

The last time anyone had seen Harmony she had been a week to being a full year old, and it had just been at least a month away from when she was to be introduced to King Triton. Then, she had mysteriously vanished. Some thought that she really hadn't vanished, and rumors started to swirl of the Queen, who had been the last to see the baby, had done something with or to the child.

But one good look at the Queen at least three days afterwards, and she looked.....like hell. The worst any had ever seen her. Bloodshot eyes and bags dark underneath them proved than in two days, she'd barely gotten sleep. Her usually neat red hair just a mess, as if she hadn't brushed it out in two days she'd spent locked in her room. Her face still a red from all the crying she'd been doing, and the fact that her eyes held this amount of pain that was unbearable to look at without bursting into tears. _That _had put to a grinding halt any rumors that had been circulating.

"Thank you Adam!" Melody said, grinning as she got on Stormy, who was actually her Mother's horse, easily and sat on the saddle. She looked over at Harmony who was trying to swing her leg around and to the other side of Strawberry, and finally she somehow managed to do it.

"Um...Melody? How do I work this thing?" Harmony asked uneasily, not liking the new height so much. Last time she was on one of these things she cracked her skull....it was normal to feel weird about getting back on. Couldn't she just ride a bike instead?

"First of all, Strawberry isn't a 'thing', she's a horse. Second, hold your reigns like this, and then just flick them." Melody said, as she waiting for Harmony to follow her instructions. The girl did, and then suddenly, she was moving.

"See, it's not so hard." Melody said with a laugh, letting Stormy walk alongside of Strawberry. It wasn't much of a pace, in fact, Melody was pretty sure she could walk faster than this, but she wanted Harmony to get used to riding a horse first. "So....have you ever kissed a boy?" She wondered, starting conversation.

"Yes." Came Harmony's reply, but it was only a curt answer. She didn't like to talk about her life at camp with someone who she knew wouldn't understand half the things she talked about.

"Really? Have you kissed more than one?" Melody asked again, letting Stormy and Strawberry just walk along the beach.

"Yes. A lot actually, but I lost track after three. And before you ask your next question, let me answer it now. Yes, I have made out with a boy before---more than one actually." Harmony said with a sigh, gripping the saddle horn harder as she felt Strawberry still move.

"Wow! What's it like?" Melody said with bright eyes, hoping that she got an actual answer this time. When she asked her parents, they said it was the most magical thing in the world---until they looked down at her and said quickly to not get any ideas.

"It's.....unexplainable I guess. Like your first kiss is so....wonderful. Like your floating on air." Harmony sighed, remembering those days.

"Did your friends know?" A soft voice inquired, breaking into Harmony's thoughts and waking her up.

"Of course my friends knew. They're my best buds, my pals, my---" Harmony broke off there, her eyes looking out at the sea for a moment, while both horses stopped as if knowing her thoughts.

"You're what?" Her twin asked in a whispered voice, brushing the black hair away from her face to get a better view of Harmony.

"My sisters." Harmony said, swallowing the lump in her throat. That's when she felt herself breaking down. "I-I have to go." She said quickly, jumping off of Strawberry and onto the ground in one giant leap.

Then she was sprinting back to the castle, to her room, to anywhere where the pain didn't hurt so much. Vaguely she noticed Melody calling after her....but she didn't care as she raced up the steps and into the castle, trying not to burst into tears. Running inside and weaving in and out of people like an expert, Harmony was about to just throw herself into any room and break down there, when her eyes caught something. A piano. A master piano.


	12. Chapter 12

Letting tears still fall from her eyes; she softly ran her fingers over the keys, loving how they sounded. She cherished that sound, loved it....and so that's why she sat down in the chair of the piano. Only for a moment, she promised herself, just to get this itch out of her fingers to play some music.

The piano keys just flew from under her fingers, making her smile as everything in the world just faded away, and the only thing in the world right now was her and this piano. Unknowingly, she started humming to herself, softly at first, but then it grew in scale until she was singing. Somehow, words formed in her mouth, and she started to sing them, loving how they balanced the piano music.

"_Mozart was crazy. Flat freaking crazy.  
Bad stuff, I hear._

_But his music's not crazy,  
It's balanced, it's nimble, It's crystalline clear._

_There's harmony, logic,  
You listen to these.  
You don't hear his doubts,  
Or his debts or disease._

_You scan through the score,  
And put fingers on keys,  
And you play.  
And everything else goes away.  
Everything else goes away _

_And you play 'til it's perfect,  
You play 'til you ache,  
You play 'til the strings or your fingernails break. _

_So you'll rock that recital,  
And look at the crowd  
To see your parents right there, And oh, they look proud, _

_Your friends are there too, Just rooting you on And they're the ones, Screaming your name, _

_And you smile and wave To all of the crowd, You live in the spotlight....and sigh _

_And you know that it's just a sonata away,  
And you play,  
And you play._

_And everything else goes away,  
Everything else goes away.  
Everything else goes away...."_

"Do you hear that? It sounds like....the piano." Ariel said in a surprised tone, turning to her husband. His eyebrows furrowed together, and he strained to hear the music better.

"Is that....singing?" Eric wondered, hearing the melodic tones of a wondrous voice that could put Ariel's to shame. Both parents looked at one another in confusion, getting up from their chairs and to the ball room, hearing the singing and music louder and louder as they got closer.

"It's not Melody.....then who? Harmony?" Eric wondered softly to his wife, trying to listen to the music that was so much louder now that they were only seconds away from the ball room. The couple went down the stairs softly, but stopped at the last step, at what they saw.

A girl, no bigger than Melody, with tear stains down her cheeks. Her eyes were closed, and a smile was on her face as she sang and the keys played out a melody that was unfamiliar to them. Harmony. It was probably that happiest any had seen her since she had come, a genuine smile lighting up her features as she just let the music overwhelm her, completely unaware of the small audience that she had created. When finally she stopped playing and singing, her eyes reopened slowly and a smile was still on her face as she laughed, the sound being carefree and....._happy_.

Turning her head slowly to the side, when she caught sight of Ariel, Eric, and Melody, who had slipped in during the little performance. Her smile immediately turned into a horrified expression, her eyes wide and scared. Jumping off the piano bench, she started to run, but Ariel caught her arm making her stay put, at least for the time being.

"I thought you said you couldn't play an instrument....or sing." She said softly, but if she was hoping for a response, she sadly disappointed. Harmony stood tight lipped, her arm that hadn't been caught hanging by her waist, a fist balled up. Her expression was so guarded that it looked as though seconds ago she hadn't been happy.

"That was wonderful Harmony. Why did you hide your talent?" Eric asked, trying a different approach to it. No answer still. Harmony was tight lipped as ever, refusing to answer any questions. She should have been smarter; she shouldn't have let people hear her voice. She should have known that someone would hear....but at the time she hadn't been thinking.

"Why won't you talk?" Melody asked finally, and Harmony shot her a grateful look. Now she could take the conversation away from her musical abilities.

"'Cuz." Harmony said, knowing how annoying those one word sentences were. She did them all the time to her brother and it drove him nuts.

"Because." Ariel corrected automatically, not missing the smirk on Harmony's face. What was it about this girl that it was so hard to get through?! This was her daughter! Why wouldn't she just talk like a daughter should....like Melody did!

"'Cuz I don't feel like it." Harmony answered, trying to get out of Ariel's grip on her arm. It was no point; she was too strong for her! Unless....ah, now she knew how to get out of the grip. Taking as far a step back as Ariel's grip allowed her to, she easily went into a one arm handstand, and in Ariel's shock, she got her other hand back and she did a handspring backwards. Landing easily on her feet, she smiled sweetly, before turning around and running back to her room.

"I'll go talk to her." Ariel said with a sigh, and Eric squeezed her hand in remorse. Melody only looked from her mother to where Harmony had run out back and forth with raised eyebrows, before shrugging.

"If she hasn't already figured out how to lock her door." The teenager said under her breath, walking away from her parents. She had better things to do than talk about her twin who was just plain _weird_. Honestly, she goes from a normal girl to being a princess in an hour, and she's not even happy about it! Most girls would be thrilled! But Harmony.....Harmony just had problems. Besides, it's not like she didn't try to befriend her, the girl just refused to be normal.

* * *

**Okay, so special acknowledgements time! #1, the song that Harmony sings is actually from the Broadway play 'Next to Normal' I don't own it sadly. I just played around with some of the lyrics so that they could fit better into this story, but other than that the song is not mine. #2, Melody may come off sounding like a jerk at the end of this chapter, but when you think about it, she's a fourteen year old girl desperate for a chance to fit in, and she thinks Harmony is going to hold her back. And #3, I don't own Melody, Ariel, Eric, or the sea, or Tip, Dash, the palace, etc. But I do own Harmony (not the name, the teenage girl) so yeah. PLEASE REVIEW! TELL ME HOW BAD OR GOOD THIS WAS!! **


	13. Chapter 13

"Go away. I'm not talking about whatever you want, so you're just wasting your time." Harmony said, clutching her knees to her chest. How badly she wanted to cry! To go back to her life, know that her friends were there, laugh, swear, even be grounded! Anything would be better than this.

"I'm not going away. And you _are _going to talk because obviously there's something wrong with you." Ariel said, sitting on the bed. Harmony said nothing, just silent. "Besides, if you don't talk now, there's always the break of dawn."

"Fine, wake me up at dawn." Harmony said, not meeting Ariel's eyes. She didn't want to talk to her 'mom' about any of this. To her, she was still a stranger. Someone that she had no idea who she was.

"I'm not going anywhere Harmony." Ariel said evenly, and the teen snorted, grabbing the striped journal off the ground and looking through it.

"Kathy. K is for karate chopping cyborgs. A is for animated analyst. T is for twittering tater tops. H is for hollering hot ham water. And Y is for yahdoodling yak." Harmony said, reading off of the journal. She then pressed her lips together and flipped a few pages, until she was at the very end of the journal, the last page.

"'Kathy, I hope we made you laugh, because you made us laugh. Appreciate everything you have because it could all be gone in the blink of an eye. Yes, this is the journal we wouldn't let you see. We weren't being mean. We were trying to surprise you. Please don't be sad that you're leaving, smile because of all the memories you have from the last three years. Wow, it's already been three years and we haven't gone (completely) insane yet. We love ya Kathy!'" She quoted, finally letting the tears fall from her eyes. Every one of her friends had made that for her, and even her brother had chipped in a small section. It just made her feel so bad that she'd never get the chance to see them again.

"Ohhh, you miss your friends, don't you? I can understand _that_." Ariel said in a soft voice that made Harmony look up.

"No you can't. What, did _you_ have to leave your entire world behind, the only home you ever knew?" Harmony said bitterly, Ariel gently with a finger lifted up her chin so she could look in her eyes.

"Yes. I had to leave all of my six sisters, my father, and my best friends all behind. That was hard for me, but when I had to do it again, it was even more awful. But never once have I ever regretted my decision to become human." Ariel said with a heavy sigh, and a small half smile to Harmony, who looked at her with confusion evident in her tear stained face.

"What do you mean, 'become human'?" Harmony asked, both brows pulled together in confusion. Ariel gave her a funny look, before shaking her head. It then dawned on her. Harmony didn't know what happened, to Melody and to her. She probably didn't even believe in mermaids if she'd never seen the sea before!

"Never mind about that." Ariel said quickly. Harmony would just think she was crazy if she started talking about her childhood as a mermaid, or how evil sea witches have tried to take over the sea, both times thanks to her. "My point is, that when I got married I had to leave behind everything I ever knew, and I had to begin a whole new life."

"But, you can talk to them now, see your family. I'm just a fourteen---err,_ thirteen---_year old girl, and I can't even _do_ that." Harmony said with a heavy sigh, running her fingers down the pages of the striped journal. Flipping through the pages without much notice, Ariel suddenly grasped her daughter's hand in her own.

"I know. And I also know that it's going to be hard to adjust to a new life, with a new family that you barely even know. Trust me, I've been there. But as long as you have people who love you, it makes things a lot easier." Ariel stated, knowing what her daughter was feeling. Of course during those days when she was first human things were difficult. Adjusting to feet, gravity, a new home, a new life.....it can be so overwhelming at times!

"You're a mom; you're supposed to say that." Harmony grumbled, but it was hard not to miss the crooked smile on her lips. Well she had inherited _that_ from Eric for sure.

"True." Ariel said with a small laugh, smoothing out her daughter's wayward hair. It wouldn't be easy for Harmony to get used to everything....but eventually she'd figure out that this was her home and that this is where she belonged. "Why did you tell me you couldn't sing or play an instrument? What you did back there in the ballroom, that was....beautiful." This was said carefully and softly, but with sincerity also. Harmony only sighed, and grimaced slightly.

"I don't know. I guess I'm just embarrassed." The teen sighed, as Ariel tucked some of the girl's vibrant red hair behind her ear.

"Why would you be embarrassed sweetheart? It's a wonderful talent." Ariel said grabbing the brush off of the girl's nightstand before turning her around on the bed so she could brush out her long hair. Honestly, it was just so knotted. Harmony didn't complain as Ariel did this, she just sat still, thinking about Ariel's question.

"I don't know....I just am." Harmony sighed, chewing on her fingernails as she thought hard. It was always her habit to bite her nails when she thought hard, and it was one habit that usually got her in trouble.

"You don't have to be. I'm sure everyone would love to hear you play." Ariel stated, running the brush thoroughly through the girl's hair. Harmony only sighed, letting her fingers drum against her lap for a moment. There was this song that had been stuck in her head for awhile....but where had she heard it before? Why did it sound so....familiar? Never mind, she thought to herself. It was probably nothing more than a memory.

"Like I said before, you're a mom. You're supposed to say that." Harmony said with a small smile to herself as Ariel laughed and wrapped her arms around her daughter. Yes Harmony wasn't perfect, and it would be a hard for her to adjust, but at least this was a start.

"True, but also as your mother I'm supposed to say the truth." Ariel started, playfully pushing her daughter's shoulder, a smile warming its way onto her lips. "And when you were singing and playing the piano you were happy. It's like your song said, everything else went away and it was only you and the piano. If that makes you happy, than why not do it?"

"I guess you're right." Harmony said with a sigh. She loved music, it was her soul. So why not play when she wanted to? It made sense....so why did her stomach do cartwheels when she thought about it?

"Go. I know that's what you've been dying to do." Ariel said with a laugh, watching as Harmony's finger's still drummed against her thigh. "Besides, it'll be good to finally have someone in the family play that piano, instead of letting all of that music go to waste." Ariel said with another laugh. Who knew how many times she'd seen that piano all alone in the ballroom, and wished she could hear music coming out of it.

Harmony's heart soared with the information that she could play the piano now, probably anytime she wanted. Her stomach still did cartwheels though at the thought of playing and people listening to her.....but her mind told her 'screw what those people think, if I like playing the piano, I will'. Jumping off the bed, she ran to the doorway, but then stopped for a moment, and looked back at an amused Ariel on her bed.

"Um....thanks. For talking to me, I mean." Harmony said, feeling her face grow hot. Thank-you's weren't exactly her forte, but it seemed like the right thing to say. And besides, she did feel a little better. Maybe that talk wasn't so awful in the end.

"Your welcome." Ariel whispered, but she knew her daughter was already long gone, back to the piano to play. Her heart warmed with the idea that Harmony had thanked her, maybe not as a mother, but at least a friend. And friendship was a start.


	14. Chapter 14

Harmony's fingers ran over the piano keys softly, loving how each one sounded different, as if they had a mind of their own. Sitting down at the bench, she closed her eyes and put her fingers to the keys. That song, in her mind, what was it? How come she remembered it, but at the same time didn't? What was it about that song that just stuck in her mind?

Shaking out her red locks, she let her fingers play the keys softly, and then she crossed the threshold from the real world, to her dream land. Where only her and the piano existed. No wars, no world hunger, no math tests....everything evil was just gone, and in its place music had formed. Softly, she took in a deep breathe....and started to sing.

"_Oh the waves roll low, _

_And the waves roll high and so it goes, _

_Under a bright blue, endless sky_

_Waves try to measure, _

_The days that we pleasure, _

_Wave hello, and wave goodbye._" Where did she know that song from? It was a nice song, no doubt, but why did it stick in her mind? And why was it so.....unlike any song she had ever heard. No radio, no iPod, no record had that song on it, she was positive....so then why did she know it?

"Our Grandmother, Athena, used that sing that song to Mother every night. It was her favorite song.....she loved music so much, or so mother tells me." A voice behind Harmony said, making her stiffen in shock and surprise. Turning around quickly, she saw Melody walking over to the piano, light on her feet as she leaned against the gleaming wood, lips pursed as she looked over her sister.

"Then how come I know it?" Harmony asked in a quiet voice, as Melody shrugged. Maybe she'd been too harsh on this girl before, maybe....maybe she could teach her how to make friends.

"Mother used to sing it to us as babies." Melody said, waving her hand as though it didn't matter. "I was wondering...." The girl started, as Harmony raised her red brows. Melody fiddled with a string on her dress, not accustomed to asking for help. She was a princess, and that meant that she had to be able to do things on her own, to show everyone she'd be a good ruler....or not.

Now that Harmony was here, it put on brakes any chances she could ever get of becoming Queen. Harmony was older than her by seconds....actually, now that Melody thought about it, it was all Harmony these days. Harmony this, and Harmony that. Melody, do you know where Harmony is? The thought of that made her blood boil.

_She_ was the daughter who'd been raised in the palace, not Harmony! She knew how to be a princess, not Harmony! She was her mother's twin, it wasn't supposed to be Harmony! With that long red hair, she thought she could just waltz right in and proclaim that she was their long lost daughter, oh that's rich. She was probably just a girl from another country, far away, and she probably just dyed her hair to make it seem as though she was Melody's twin, and her parent's daughter. Stupid girl. She was going to take away her birthright!

"Melody? If I'm a princess and all....just saying if I'm ever given the choice to be Queen....would you mind if I just handed it up and gave the job to you? I was technically born here, and I know I'm older than you by a few seconds and all....but you would probably be better at it than me.....can I tell you something, just teenage girl to teenage girl?" Harmony finally blurted out, taking in a deep breath. She felt so constricted, like her chest was on fire. She needed her inhaler, but that was back in her room, far away from here. She would just have to try not to have an attack, she would have to try.

"Sure!" Melody was all too excited to see what this girl had to say. It was probably all an act, the whole 'I don't want to be Queen, you should be' thing. But...then why did she sound so sincere? Or why did she look as though she was on the verge of tears? Maybe, just maybe, it wasn't an act and she really didn't want to be Queen someday. Perhaps her whole view on her twin was just..._wrong_.

"I know you don't like me very much," Harmony held up a hand to silence Melody who was already starting to come up with a response to interrupt. "Don't lie; I can see it in your face. I'm very perceptive of people, always have been. I know the whole 'Harmony's back' show is probably making you feel...awkward because you feel like you're on the outside, and I understand why you wouldn't like me. My older brother would get a trophy for doing something, and my parents would congratulate him and it always made _me_ jealous because I wasn't the center of attention, but....I'm scared Melody. I'm just, really scared." Harmony admitted, biting her lip to keep the tears in.

Why was it so hard for her to open up to people? It had been that way, since the sixth grade when she found herself suddenly friendless....she just became so guarded around everyone, even her closest friends. Some had managed to break through her hard shield...but not many. And it always scared her that they would use her secrets against her, like 'friends' that had been popular had.

"Why would you be scared? You live in a castle Harmony, a castle by the sea. Literally, you can walk outside and you'll be at the beach." Melody said with a look that said all. Harmony only said nothing, shaking her head sadly and biting her lip as she turned over both her arms so that they were facing Melody, who gasped at what she saw. Cuts, lining both arms, some fresher than others, they couldn't have been that old. Perhaps from the last few days maybe, but why would she have them all over her under arms? Did she fall that way?

"W-What happened to your arms? Those look like bad cuts, you should tell Mom and Dad!" Melody said with frantic eyes, as she pulled at one of Harmony's arms. Harmony's face filled with panic, and her eyes became wild as she gripped Melody's wrist.

"NO!" She practically shouted, causing Melody to become a bit scared. "Sorry...I mean, no, please don't tell them. Please. It helps me....deal with the pain. I know it's a terrible thing to cut yourself, and I know that I can be hospitalized for this....but the pain of losing my friends hurts so much....this and music are the only things that help. Please don't tell. Please." Harmony begged, as Melody's blue eyes grew wide with shock. Cut herself! The girl was cutting herself! How could she not tell!

Then again....maybe this was a way she could become closer to her...._sister_, that little voice in her head said softly. If she told Mom and Dad, Harmony would probably be helped...but at what cost? Risking the already delicate relationship between them? Or possible friendship? Or, dare she say, _sisterhood_?! No, she'd have to just try to convince Harmony to stop this, that' all. She had to.

"I won't tell....only if you promise to stop." Melody said in a quiet voice, using an ultimatum. The girl would have to stop now....right? And Melody wasn't bluffing at all, she was serious....right? No, she was....then why did she keep questioning herself?

"Can you make the pain go away?" Harmony's soft voice interrupted Melody's thinking, and the girl looked up, surprised at the sudden question.

"W-What do you mean?" Melody asked softly, kind of scared now. Her heart was racing; her throat felt as though a huge lump was in it, and not a good kind of lump.

"This," Harmony said slowly and softly, gesturing to her arms, "and music are the only things that help with the pain. Unless you have a way to make the pain go away....then I can't. I'll try, I really will....but I'm just so scared. Please don't tell." Harmony said, biting her lip, and looking at her sister with pleading eyes. Her friends back home and her had always made cracks about 'emo kids'.....now she was one of them.

"I-I won't." Melody said, and she was suddenly swept up into a hug. A tight one. But it didn't make her feel any better about keeping a secret so big from her parents. But Harmony promised she'd try to stop, and if not, Mom and Dad would definitely know.

"Thank you...sis." Harmony said softly, before letting go of Melody and walking back to her room, leaving a dazed and confused Melody to stand alone by the piano, while Harmony bit her lip tightly and dug her nails into her skin to try and forget about cutting herself. She wouldn't anymore....right? She'd have to stop! Or else, her mind told her softly, so soft that even in her mind, she hardly heard it.

* * *

**I thought this would be a scene to get a glimpse into Melody's mindset about her new twin, and how you see that behind the musical/gymnast/joker bravado, Harmony is really strugging with all of this suddenly being crammed on her shoulders. I do** _not_ **cut myself, but i thought for awhile when i wrote this to look at Harmony's life right now. She's was fourteen when she finds out she's only thirteen, her name was Kathy when she finds out it's Harmony, she's now a princess, she's living with her 'real' family, who are all just strangers to her at the moment....she's scared and feels as though no one can understand what she's going through, so she starts cutting herself and to her it feels so much better, like music does.** **And Melody is dealing with the fact that she's no longer going to be queen, so that's why at times she's nasty, and at others she's sweet. She's a teenager, and trust me, us teenagers have mood swings. Sometimes we hate our parents for no aparent reason, sometimes we love them. It's all just part of growing up, and Melody is going to go through it as well as Harmony, but they deal with it in different ways. **

**Review please! I loved the feedback i got, and to all of you i say thank you for your apreciation of my fanfiction. And just to keep this suspenseful, in the next chapter Harmony finds out about her mermaid heritage and....dum dum dum! Review and you shall find out in the next chapter!**


	15. Chapter 15

"Harmony, we were going to go sailing this morning.....would you like to come? It's a wonderful day." Eric said a breakfast to his daughter, who looked up with confusion all over her face.

Eric prayed that this would go well, and that she'd willingly come along sailing with them so she could be introduced to her mermaid side of the family. Ariel and him and discussed it the night prior, that with Harmony they wanted to make no mistakes and immediately tell her about her mermaid heritage....but how? They couldn't just outright blurt 'Your Grandfather is a merman and King Triton, ruler of the seven seas. And you have six Aunts and Uncles, and many cousins who are all younger than you, and they're merpeople too.'

"Sailing? I've never gone sailing." Harmony said musingly a smile spreading to her lips as she remembered yet another camp memory. "I've been canoeing in camp before....but that's different because it's so much easier to start rocking the canoe and then capsize." Harmony said with a giggle to herself, remembering how she and her best friends had capsized and then get towed back to land by the wave runners.

"Then it will be a new experience for you." Ariel said with a warm smile, and Harmony looked blandly at her for a moment, before shrugging it off. The smiling all the time still gave her the creeps.

"I'm just wondering why would want to capsize a canoe." Eric wondered aloud, and Harmony grinned, sighing a wistful sigh. Camp, the one place where there was no popularity contests, no rules, no anything. It was just camp, the one place you were free.

"Because, when there's two teenage girls paddling while the other one is in the middle of the canoe, doing nothing, it's just a really tempting to start rocking the canoe and then make it capsize!" Harmony said with another giggle, a bigger smile warming her face.

"That's awful!" Melody admonished, smiling a bit with effort. It was just hard looking at Harmony now without that terrible secret she was hiding coming to mind. How had no one noticed those cuts on her arm yet? Well, she guessed when you first looked at someone you didn't necessarily look at their arms, but still. Now knowing what Harmony was hiding, Melody felt as though she had been tied to a giant rock and told to walk.

"It's camp. Awful is what you do, it's what your good at." Harmony said, fixing Melody a smile that if one could see past it, they would see the pleading in her face not to tell. She had tried, she really did last night not to cut herself, but one look at the striped journal and....and she just had to! She had to press those scissor blades against her skin; it helped the pain of knowing she'd never see her family again. But now there was a new worry to think about. Now she had to hope, and pray that Melody wouldn't spill a word about her secret.

"That's one biiiiiiiiiiig boat." Harmony said, whistling in astonishment. This thing was....a monster! It was huge, at least a small sky scraper height, and there were these...huge sails that were white as the clouds, just ready to be taken out into the open sea. Why when she thought of sailing did a speed boat come to her mind? This thing was at least a good 8 or 9 times bigger, and that's just height, not width.

"Actually, it's called a ship." Eric corrected with a grin, as he saw Harmony's eyes grow to be the size of saucers as she took in his ship. He hadn't been out in awhile, and introducing Harmony to her other side of the family seemed like the perfect opportunity. He saw Ariel give him a look he knew clearly well behind Harmony's back, and he only grinned his dimples at her, as she tried to repress a smile.

"It's completely safe sweetheart, don't worry." Ariel said, coming up beside Eric as she gave him a peck on the cheek and his arms wrapped around her waist lovingly. "And even if you so great about going onto a ship, remember, you're doing this for your father." That remark was definitely directed to Eric, as he looked down at his wife and raised his black brows.

"Care to explain why she would be doing this for me?" Eric asked, his gaze completely fixed on Ariel. She pursed her lips out for a moment, before looking back up at her Eric with a smile that would make Romeo forget about what's-her-name and only be fixed on the goddess before him on human feet. What the couple didn't notice is that Harmony figured out that the 'she' didn't pertain to her anymore, and she slipped away from her parents, up the gangplank to get on the ship and look around at everything.

"Because, her father is like a child at a candy shop when it comes to sailing." Ariel teased lightly, reaching a hand up to muss his hair before trying to slip away smoothly from him. Eric only laughed, and grabbed her wrist, gently, before pulling her back to him.

"If I remember correctly, a certain little mermaid first saw me sailing." He whispered into her ear, his hot breath tickling it. Ariel only giggled before locking her lips against his, surprising him no doubt, but it's not like it was unpleasant.

"Don't you know anything Eric? Mermaid's are just an old fish tail...." Ariel said with a wink to him with a smile, as he shook his black hair and smiled that lazy smile she loved. She loved all his smiles actually, come to think of it.

"Of course I know. That's completely the reason why I'm married to a former one." Eric said with a wink back to her, ducking as her hand swatted playfully at his head, and he took her hand, leading her up the gangplank and setting sail.

Surprisingly for someone who'd never sailed a day in her life, Harmony was able to keep down her breakfast easily, as she let the wind whip at her face and the droplets of water hit her. It wasn't hard to tell that she was enjoying the little trip, running up and down the deck in amazement, looking at everything, as if she was a child all over again. But how could she not? Ships like theses were in museums back in Nebraska! The only ship she'd ever been on was that ferry ride to Niagara Falls when she was nine, but that didn't count because it was a _ferry_. This was a ship! A fully fledged ship!

"Are you ready?" A voice quietly murmured behind Ariel. She took in a deep breath and looked at Harmony for a moment, seeing the delighted expression her face had from sailing. Then she looked to Melody, to find that her other daughter was paying no attention to the sea, because she was more focused on playing with Max.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Ariel murmured back to her husband, fixing her gaze at the sea as she saw the wave's part to find Daddy there. Well at least he was following her wishes that, she'd relayed to Sebastian to relay to her father, to make it as casual as possible. She didn't want to alarm Harmony anymore than she was already. Looking straight at her father in the water she saw....more heads float up, each one with a shake of a head and a smile to the ship. Her sisters. Wonderful, at least they could freak the girl out all at one moment.

It was Melody who saw King Triton and her Aunts first between her and Harmony. Running over to the side of the ship, as Harmony curiously watched her, her grandfather created a sort of wave to lift him up to the rail, while her Aunts stayed below in the water.

"Grandfather! I missed you!" Melody cried out happily, forgetting about her twin right now who was staring at the scene with a huge gaping mouth, eyes as wide as an Elephant's ears, and a facial expression that could only be described as shocked. Melody hugged her Grandfather tightly, as his chuckle sounded in her ears.

"Melody, please. I haven't seen your mother either." Triton said with a wink to his granddaughter, smiling as he saw Ariel step forward and grin at him, before hugging her father tightly.

"Good to see you Daddy." Ariel whispered, hugging him tightly. Triton hugged her back, although in reality, no matter how many times he'd seen her as a human, he always pictured that little redheaded mermaid playing tag with him outside. Ariel let go of her hug to her father before waving to her sisters down below, watching as Triton made waves with his Triton for them all to come up too against the railing.

"We've missed you little sister." Attina murmured, so low she knew that none other than her sister's and Ariel could hear her. How is it that every time she saw her sister as a human, it became harder and harder to convince herself that it was really so. That one day Ariel wasn't miraculously be sixteen again, swimming and singing to herself and crashing into one of her sisters for not paying any attention.

"I missed you all too." Ariel murmured back just as softly, hugging her sisters even tighter than her father. Seeing them always brought back memories of her childhood, and how they had always looked out for her since she was the baby of the bunch.

"Um, Daddy." Ariel said, catching her father's attention and that of her older sisters at one as they each had ranging expressions on their faces. From curious, to anxious, to what-did-you-do-now-Ariel...somehow her sisters could never get over the fact that she'd grown up and that she wasn't getting into trouble anymore. Putting protective arms on Harmony's shoulder as the girl eyed her with worry and panic, Ariel took in a deep breath. "This is your granddaughter, Harmony." Ariel said in a soft tone, as Triton's eyes and those of her sister's flickered to the girl. A miniature version of Ariel, with that red hair and those blue eyes.

"Harmony." Triton said with a gentle smile to the panic filled girl, as held out a hand for her to come closer to him. She didn't. Instead, she backed up, away from Ariel and Eric, away from Melody, and definitely away from the...._fish_ people, things, whatever.

"N-No. T-This isn't real." Harmony stated, stumbling over herself as she backed away. She only got confused looks in returned, but she could care less. This wasn't real. This wasn't real. Merpeople didn't exist. Of course they didn't. No. NO.

"Harmony, hon, come here. We won't bite you." Arista said in a gentle voice but that only made Harmony more scared. Harry Potter. What? Harry Potter, her mind filled in, and instantly her eyes flashed to that part in the movie when the mermaids tried to kill him. Siren song. What? Siren song, her mind once again filled in, and she was flashed to that part in the book in the _Odyssey_ when the siren song almost kills him.

"N-none of this is real.....right? I-I-It's not real." Harmony said, as panic filled her voice as she looked around quickly, her head spinning. Her breathing was irregular now, coming out in gasped breaths of shock and panic as she gulped. Mermaids didn't exist. None of this could be real. It couldn't be. It just couldn't. Ariel's heavy sigh could be heard as Harmony kept panicking, and she looked at her sisters and father apologetically.

"Come here Harmony." Triton said in a gentle tone that the sisters immediately recognized. He was trying to coax her gently into coming up, but she wouldn't. Goosebumps filled Harmony's arms as she looked at everything, taking it all in at once. Mermaids, Triton, evil, dead, kill, drown, song, it was too much for her as she started to shake from fear at what she was seeing. Mermaids weren't real. They were stories. Just imaginative stories, but never real.

"N-No, I-it's not real." Harmony said again, as her shaking continued. Ariel was by her in a moment, trying to soothe the girls fear, but her motherly patience was wasted on Harmony as she squirmed out of Ariel's arms and looked at the mermaids all again.

That's when everything turned black.

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**Whew! That was one heck of a chapter, wasn't it? Yes, i know it's long, but i wanted to fit all of this in, and it just blended so well together! Strangely, when i had to right the part of Harmony being scared, i actually got pretty scared myself. And my own breathing started to get all irregular, and i actually got goosebumps on my arm! **

**Sadly, my wonderful reviewers and lovers of this story, i'm afraid i can't write anymore. I just don't feel that spark when i see this story, so don't expect a chapter tomorrow. **

**HA! Just kidding! I love this story, i can't seem to tear myself away from it. I'm so attached that i've started losing sleep over Harmony, even though she's a made up character (but she's still awesome!) If any of you read this story and get an idea for a story of your own, i don't mind if you use Harmony, just at least tell me so that i can look up your stories and read your versions! **

**To all my wonderful reviewers, you guys really make my day, you know that? Really, you do. Give yourself a high five for being so great! (although i'm not sure how your supposed to do that....) Anyway, thanks for reviewing and by tomorrow i hope to post a new chapter, but we'll see (aka, that line is so foreshadowing!) Thanks again, and you guys rock!**

**Bye! And Review!**


	16. Chapter 16

Unconsciousness is wonderful thing. Some might be quick to argue that point, but let's not consider them right now. Back to the point, when one is unconscious they can be completely passed out, but still hear a conversation above their heads, as it is in this case.

".....more shock than anything." A soft voice above Harmony's head said, as the girl started coming back to reality. But smartly, she kept her eyes closed to create the illusion that she was still unconscious. "Sorry Daddy, I think it was just too much for her to handle." The voice sighed softly as a snort could be heard.

"I understand that you screwed up with me Mother, but why wouldn't you just tell her _before_?" A voice very much like Harmony's stated, and a sharp intake of breath could be heard.

"Melody that's enough." A man's voice said warned, and an 'hmph' sounded, but nothing else. Who was talking? What was happening? A tinkling laugh came from far off, and Harmony was positive that whoever had laughed was now smiling.

"Melody, your parents didn't 'screw up' with you. They just wanted to keep you safe." Another man's voice said in a gentler tone, as a frustrated sigh sounded.

"I know, I know. Sorry Grandfather, I'm just....frustrated." That was definitely Melody, for sure. But who was she talking to? Grandfather? Huh?

"I think she's coming too Ariel." A man's voice...._Eric's_ voice said, as a groan escaped Harmony's lips. A massive migraine had formed in her head, and all she wanted to do was get it out. Maybe take a pain killer....wait; did they even have those here? Well she did have some in her book bag....back in her room. Idiot, she reprimanded herself, as her migraine pounded louder.

"Harmony, Harmony honey, can you hear me?" Of course she could hear her; she didn't have to shout in her ear! God, some people really have no common sense, do they?

"Stop yelling, God, you'll blow off my ear." Harmony moaned, sitting up as titters could be heard from afar. She didn't even bother to look up as she put her hand to her forehead, and winced deeply.

"She has your attitude Ariel." A woman's voice said as voices laughed lightly. Looking at up, Harmony saw a grimacing Ariel who shot....whoever was there a sour look.

"Not helping girls." Ariel reminded, as she bit back laughter of her own. Her sisters only shook their heads and smiled sweetly at her, as if they were still children who were completely innocent and had done no wrong. Yeah, like _that_ was right.

Harmony looked up at the rail....to see the same sight that had pushed her in passing out. People...with _tails_! Merpeople....what?! But they weren't real! They were just stories! Just stories....why did that stick out in her mind....stories....hm....

"How is this real?" She muttered to herself, keeping both her arms down so that no one would see the cuts all along them. If they did....questions would arise....then with questions came doctors....and with doctors came hospitalization.

"You still don't believe it's real?" Ariel asked as disappointment ran along the lines in her face. Eric squeezed her hand for a moment as a reminder that Harmony had been in another world for years, before turning to his daughter.

"No, I believe it's just that.....I always thought....and Ryan---Ryan, of course!" Harmony said as her hand slapped her forehead in remembrance. Of course! Now she remembered!

"Who's Ryan?" Alana wondered as Harmony stood up and squeezed her eyes shut at the memory.

"He was her older brother." Ariel explained softly to her sisters and father, and a look of amusement and wonder passed through them.

"Only by two years!" Harmony stated, as soft laughter fell from the adults. Melody only gave her twin a look that said I-completely-understand.

"Of course." Andrina said with a wink to her sisters.

"Why is he important though?" Triton wondered, resisting the urge to smile. Harmony could have passed for her mother's twin at that age easily. With the red hair, and those blue eyes....it was like he was seeing Athena.

"Because, that's why I blacked out! He told me when I was five that if I ever went to the sea mermaids would drown me....urgh! I hate him!" This wasn't Harmony talking, this was Kathy, the teenage girl who wanted to kill her brother.

"Why would he tell you that?" Attina wondered, a smile already starting to spread to her lips. Older siblings always invented stories, oh she would know _that_ really well.

"To shut me up 'cuz I kept asking him questions about the sea." Harmony said softly, more to herself. She vaguely noticed Ariel's arms around her, but she wasn't here anymore. She was back in her memory, living those carefree pigtailed days.

"And you believed him?!" Aquata wondered, smiling full on as Harmony shrugged. How is it that this girl looked exactly like Ariel, and acted the exact same! That crazy spirit, she definitely inherited it from Ariel.

"I was five, and he was _seven_. He was older than me by two whole years, of course I believed him!" Harmony said, and the adults finally started laughing, full on. Melody only stood beside her sister, tugging her arm, and whispering something into her ear that made her smile.

"That sounds familiar." Ariel muttered as her sisters flashed her smiles.

"Come here Harmony." They laughed as Melody led her sister to her aunts and they hugged her tightly. On the one hand, Harmony could accept she wasn't dreaming and that mermaid's weren't going to kill her. On the other, her common sense told her that this was a freaky thing and that she should scream and run. Oh boy did number two of those options sound good right now.

"You look just like your mother!" Attina murmured as her and her sisters fussed around Harmony. Even Triton had to admit she looked scarily a lot like her mother as he hugged her. Harmony was silent mostly, a few words every now and then, but nothing more. Soon, it grew dark and with a goodbye to her....._mermaid _family, the ship was taken back to the pier....and Harmony was the first to jump off and run as fast as she could to her room.

Locking the door by putting a chair up against the handle, she sat on the bed and took shuddering breathes. Memories of a small redheaded girl on her brother's shoulders came coming back....her mother holding her when she broke her arm, her father teasing her about T.V. shows that she loved.....it hurt so much. It hurt, it hurt. The pain...never to see them again, never to feel her brother....never to get in trouble with him ached her heart, and without knowing, she pressed the scissor blade against her arm. Tears fell down her eyes as she realized she'd become 'an Emo kid' but the pain didn't hurt as much when she bled. It didn't hurt, it didn't hurt...she sobbed herself to sleep.

* * *

**I know, i know, this was a quick chapter, and i sped through the whole 'meeting the family scene' really quick, but this story is about Harmony, not her family (well mostly about Harmony)....the next chapter i swear will make up for this one completely, because it has to do with Harmony's intro ball, and oh boy, is it drama filled! **

**To all that have reviewed, i say thanks lots. To those of you that haven't, i say, REVIEW! **

**Just to give you a small cliffhanger, Melody becomes furious at Harmony, and in an act of revenge, she hurts Harmony in a way that none of you can imagine. DUM DUM DUM! I will post the next chapter soon, so keep checking and reviewing, because at the end of the day, its your review that keep me writing (That and the insane voices in my head....do other writers get that, or is that just me? You know, like the character is talking to you in your head and they won't shutup till you write them down....hm, i might be classified as insane now that i think of it)**

**Thanks for reading my story, and again, if any of you want to use Harmony in your own stories, i give you only one condition, please, please, notify me so i can read YOUR stories when you post them. **

**Ta ta for now, Converse r Life**


	17. Chapter 17

The first thing on Ariel's mind when she woke was the ball, and how there were a million things to do to make it perfect. Plus she had to tell Harmony that the ball was....today. She hadn't even gotten the chance to the night before, when Harmony had practically jumped off the ship and run to her room. Ariel and Eric had been puzzled as to why, and when they went to see if she was asleep or not, they found her door....locked. When they asked Melody she said that Harmony probably wanted to be alone for a little while, although, she had seemed a bit....shifty when she said that.

"Nonsense." Ariel scolded herself softly, as Eric rolled over in their bed and opened his eyes.

"What did you say darling?" He murmured in his sleepy state. Ariel only shook her head and curled in his embrace, loving how his touch electrified her fingers and body.

"It was nothing Eric." Ariel responded back, fighting off fatigue. All she wanted was to stay in bed with Eric all day long, but that wasn't possible. If it was, she would have done it years ago.

"Your dress is so beautiful!" Ariel murmured in approval, as Harmony only looked up before wanting to die. Of all the colors of the rainbow, why did it have to be _pink_?! Melody was wearing a blue dress to the ball, which, Ariel had told her that morning 'was tonight'. Yeah, thanks for the earlier update.

"It's um....cool." Harmony said, taking in a deep breath. She now had her own 'dressing room' attached to her real room. There were a lot of dresses that had been made for her from two days ago measurements, and when she said a lot, she meant, twice as many as at home she would have. Of course though, her skinny jeans and Woodstock Tee were hidden in a drawer, under a bunch of petticoats (ick, they were so annoying!)

"I have to get dressed myself now, and so do you Harmony, the ball is only an hour away!" Ariel said in a sing song voice with a smile, before exciting Harmony's room and leaving only Melody and Harmony in it, both of them sighing for two different reasons.

"Harmony?" Melody questioned for a moment, fiddling with her hair that was, of course, pulled back.

"Mhm?" Harmony answered, looking through a wardrobe to see....shoes. Not converse or cleats, or even _cute_ shoes, just...old fashioned ones that made her want to, barf.

"What are your friends like?" Melody blurted out, before sheepishly biting her lip and looking at Harmony as the girl turned around and stared at Melody, who in turn, had her cheeks flame red. She didn't have any actual friends her age, unless you counted the shaky friendship her and Harmony had formed, but she at least wanted to know what it felt like.

Harmony asked no questions to Melody's, and just pursed her lips as she sat on the floor with her sister, and tried to think of her friends. "We-ell....their just...my best buds, the kids I can't live without." Harmony was pretty close to tears when she stated how her friends were like. She missed her friends...and she wondered if they missed her too. They were always there when she needed them...and now more than ever did she need them.

"They sound like great friends Harmony." Melody said softly, putting a hand on Harmony's shoulder. The girl only gulped in response, and shook her head as she glumly looked at her sister.

"Melody, I might not have a hundred friends, but _my_ group of friends accept me for who I am. They don't judge, or ask questions, they---" Here Harmony finally broke off in sobs, hiding her face in her knees. She missed them, all of them. She missed everyone so much. So much...

"I-I'm sorry I brought them up. Um...there's this boy I like, and he's going to be here tonight...and he's really cute, but I'm nervous about seeing him because I have a really big crush on him." Melody purposely switched topics because it made her nervous to see Harmony cry. That and she didn't want the girl to cut herself even further from the pain of remembering the friends she'll never see again.

"If you like him, I'm sure everything will be fine. What does he look like?" Harmony asked, sniffling and grateful for the distraction from her friends. Melody spent the next twenty minutes describing him....and he sounded a lot like Lucas. No, that's silly! Lucas was in another world, he wasn't _here_!

Shaking her head at those thoughts, everything then came in a rush, her 'parents' seeing her in the (ew, ew, ew, ew) pink dress, the 'oh how beautiful you girls look tonight' crap, her name being announced, and then....the next thing she knew she was at the bottom of the ball room steps, and she was asked to dance by....Lucas?! NO! This wasn't him, her mind immediately told her, this was his twin, and you know, a _real_ look alike. She looked up a minute at Melody who was standing with 'their' parents, and she gave a curt nod, as if saying 'that's him'.

"Um....sure." Harmony answered, putting her hand in his. How do you waltz again? Ugh, school _definitely_ didn't prepare her for this. But she let Lucas---er, _Alec_, lead and she soon found the steps weren't so difficult. One, two, three, spin? Okay, spin, and then one, two, three...wait, no spin?! What? Okay, never mind what she said before, waltzing was _hard_.

"Thank you for the dance, your highness." Lu--_Alec_ said with a flourish of a bow. Harmony knew that she had to curtsey now, she just knew, but still, something egged at her mind. Your highness? No, her she had a name, and it was **not **'your highness'.

"Call me Harmony, and your welcome." Harmony could hear the titters of the people in the ball room, and there were a lot. From adults to kid's her own age, that's who was in the ball room. She knew that it probably wasn't 'etiquette' to tell him to use her name, but screw etiquette. She had a name, use it. Taking a deep breath, she went down for a curtsey....and fell right on her rear.

That's when the laughing started. Everyone her age in the ballroom was laughing or giggling at her falling right on her rear, and even the adults were trying to hid their laughter. She looked up for a moment at the panicked expressions of her family....why? Did they expect her to run off because people were laughing? No, she wasn't going to give them the satisfaction.

"Sorry, I'm a klutz." Harmony admitted with a sheepish expression, as she giggled at herself. Her cheeks burned as bright red as her hair, but she could care less. When she stood up, and laughed at herself, the laughing in the ballroom vanished replaced by......respect? For what?! All she did was stand back up. Nothing wrong there.

"Let the ball continue!" Eric finally called out with a triumphant expression on his face as the music started up again, and Harmony was asked to another dance with a boy. He and Ariel exchanged the same look as they looked over at one another; relief mingled with happiness. Instead of running off embarrassed when they laughed at her, she stood up and faced them, laughing at herself with cheeks burning. But neither one of them failed to notice Melody, who's fist's were clenched in a rage that none could imagine.

How had she done it? Now for sure her parents felt so proud of Harmony for not running off. Well, let's not see her run off when she's caught talking to a crab and the laughing is about _that_. Now everyone in the kingdom would see Harmony as a Queen, not as a scared little girl who cut herself out of pain. The entire kingdom respected her, boys talking to her and dancing with her, girls smiling as she looked at them, she was gaining more friends tonight then Melody had ever gotten her whole life. Fuming over that, her anger would soon bring the downfall of her beloved sister.

"I'm just going to, you know, go outside for a moment. I'll be back soon, don't worry." Harmony called out sweetly, but as soon as she was out on that ballroom balcony, she let loose a heavy sigh.

This wasn't her. She wasn't the girl that did balls, or got dressed up. She wasn't the girl who did any of these things! It was just so overwhelming that so many people wanted to talk to her, adults, kids, teenagers, everyone wanted to talk to the new _princess_....but not her.

Looking back over her shoulder at the windows of happy people dancing, paying no mind to her, Harmony took out a cigarette from her pocket and matches. She knew that smoking killed, that's why she had only done it once before, in the sixth grade...with all of that happening. She needed something to calm her nerves down, and it definitely wasn't cutting. She couldn't do it out here, because it would just be too easy for someone to catch her.

Lighting the cigarette, she put it to her mouth and exhaled smoke. If anyone caught her and told her parents, for sure, she was dead. She hated the taste it left in her mouth, nicotine was an awful thing. But for one thing it made the pain numb, and the overwhelming feeling away.

"Funny. I didn't realize princesses smoked." A voice said behind her, and Harmony's eyes grew wide as she turned around to see....Alec standing there, with a humored expression. "Then again, you're a different kind of princess, so it seems. You're more relaxed and easier to get along with than your sister. She tries too hard." Harmony dropped her cigarette in a moment, and squashed it with her foot before kicking it to the bushes.

"Like I said, I'm just Harmony, not princess. And just leave me alone, will you? I want some time alone." Harmony sighed, dipping her head foreword. Alec only grinned and came up beside her, touching one of her wrists lightly. Harmony shook his hand off and reached into her pocket to take a dissolving tongue mint, to mask the nicotine in her breath.

"It's bad manners to leave a lady all alone. Besides, I wanted to ask you something." Alec said with a wider grin, his eyes shining. Harmony took a step away from him, not liking his tone of voice.

"Alec, leave me alone." She said evenly, almost to the ballroom door to go back inside now. Only one more step---

"You won't be saying that after this, Harmony." He said, and suddenly, his lips were smashed against hers, his awful tongue sliding into her mouth. It took Harmony maybe twenty seconds to realize that he was kissing her, before angrily she pushed him away, hoping that no one had seen that. But she was wrong, one person had seen it.

**So i lied, and you don't see what the drama is in this chapter. But the next chapter, which i'm posting now, you will. **


	18. Chapter 18

Melody thought she was going to be sick. Her sister---Alec---she saw them kissing! How could Harmony! She knew Melody liked him! How could she! That bitch! Urgh!! Filled with festering rage and hatred for the girl, Melody knew just the way to get back at her.

Standing up tall, she first got everyone's attention, as she saw Harmony slip through the door back into the ballroom. Good, this should show her.

"Harmony is a slut. She's kissed so many boys that she can't even remember who the first boy's name she kissed was! And she's made out with them too! She stuck her tongue in all of their mouths! She's been the in the woods all alone with a boy before too! Oh, and she cuts herself to feel pain, every night, just look at her arms!" Melody shouted, and the entire ballroom went into complete silence.

Not one word spoken, not one word said, as all eyes turned to Harmony whose cheeks blazed red, and whose breaths starting coming out more ragged as she looked around the room desperately. Ariel and Eric were frozen in the middle of their dance, staring at their daughter in shock.

"Slut." It was one word that was whispered from a boys lips, and then the rest followed. Words started to fly around the ballroom as Harmony looked at Melody with a expression that spoke it all. Why?

"Such a whore."

"Such a slut bet she's already done it with a boy."

"I kissed her yesterday at the beach, and she let me lift up her dress."

"She's not at all a good princess."

"She's loose, I don't know what the King and Queen will do about it, perhaps send her back to wherever they found her?"

"Horrible values, just horrible."

"Look at her arms!"

"She really does cut herself!"

Harmony could hear all this swirling around her, as her mind suddenly took her back to the sixth grade. _"Weird." "Freak." "Dork" "No friends." "Look at her hair!" "Look at her clothes!" "She can't even wear a bra!" "She's definitely anorexic." "Weirdo." "Ugly." "Not popular." _The insults wouldn't stop; everywhere she turned she could hear them in her head, laughing at her as she desperately tried to get away from them.

Her bottom lip started to quiver as she saw the picture in her mind, carrying a tray full of food, and looking out at the cafeteria. Sitting down with some of her old friends at their table. The disgusted look they gave her, the faces filled with hatred. All of them picking up their trays and moving away from her....all alone, in a cafeteria so big. So big....she just melted.

A sob broke loose out of her chest, and the next thing she remembered was running.

* * *

**I know Melody is a bitch in this chapter, but look at it from her pov for a minute. Everything is centered around Harmony these days, and if that's not enough to get someone jealous, when Harmony starts 'stealing' melody's potential friends, her parents, her life, and her guy, Melody is furious. In her mind, she just saw Harmony making out with the guy she liked, and she's convinced at that act of 'betrayal' that Harmony is going to start betraying her more by spilling all her other secrets, and that's why Melody thinks she has to act fast so that Harmony doesn't do that. But when people start whispering and all of them are saying 'slut' 'loose' 'whore', it brings back the memories of those first days of the sixth grade, and Harmony can't take that pain anymore. ****Intense, yes i know. **

**Just for a taste of chapter 19....Melody _really_ hurts Harmony, Ariel turns into 'find out in the next chapter!', Eric does what he considers the worst thing he's ever done to his daughter, and Harmony? Oh, Harmony _runs_. From what? From who? Find out if you Review!**


	19. Chapter 19

In most cases, when the famous quote 'Shoot for the moon, and even if you miss, you'll land among the stars' by Les Brown is stated, people will feel inspired, and think that they can do anything. That's the first problem.

Harmony had shot for the moon, and she thought that she could make it too. She thought the ball was going great, and people were starting to like her. But there isn't a quote for when you overshoot the moon and instead of landing among the stars; you crash back into planet Earth at a truly amazing speed. Some might say that the landing is hard, but soon enough you can get right back up and you'll be able to get to success. But, what if when you land back into Earth, things don't go that smoothly. Perhaps you broke both your legs, and can now only crawl to safety, wherever that might be. You might land in a thick jungle, in the middle of nowhere, and the only thing keeping you away from a six hundred pound overgrown house cat is that tree you landed in. Things are never as they seem, and Harmony had found that out the hard way.

Damn that Melody to hell! How could she do that? Why would she just shout out 'Harmony is a slut.' Siblings didn't do that to siblings, no matter what they _never_ handed them up! They can hate each other as much as they want, but when it comes down to the wire, they protect each other as siblings should.

It seems as though Melody got the memo just a tad bit late, wouldn't you agree?

Harmony threw off that pink dress, and put back on her skinny jeans and Woodstock Tee. Something familiar, something that was never changing, something that had been there for her for her entire life. Home. That's what she wanted, no, _needed_ right now. She had to get away from here, away from the whispers, away from the sister that betrayed her. She had to just go. Where? She didn't know, but anywhere but here sounded good right now. Anywhere.

"Where is she?! I swear Eric; I'm going to kill that girl." Ariel said, as she ground her teeth together. Melody had disappeared after her little announcement, and now a furious Ariel was looking for her. To tell her what exactly, she didn't know, but she knew that look on Harmony's face as everyone stared at her. She had seen the same exact look mirrored on Melody's at her twelfth birthday party.....pure dreaded misery.

"Ariel, you're not going to find her like this. Calm down for awhile and then we can look for her." Eric's voice of reason wasn't heard by Ariel, as she kept muttering to herself, grinding her teeth as her fists were clenched in rage.

"What are you doing?" Melody asked simply, leaning against the doorpost of her sister's room as she saw Harmony stuff her sketch book back into her bag. The girl looked up for a moment, before shaking her head and looking back down.

"Why would you want to know? So you can follow me there and ruin my life _again_?" Harmony spat out, feeling the bile rise in her throat as she got so angry at this girl.

"I know this is the part where I say sorry....but I'm not. You got what you deserved." Melody said evenly, as Harmony whirled around to stare at her in confusion mixed in with a whole lot of anger.

"What I deserved?! You called me a slut in front of the entire kingdom! What could I have possibly done that was that bad?!" Harmony shouted, tears forming in her eyes as she thought about it.

"I saw you kissing Alec, even after I told you I liked him." Melody said once again in that infuriatingly calm voice of hers. "All I want to know is how it tasted, you know, betraying your only sister." She spat out, and Harmony stared at her a moment, before a hard bitter laugh came from her throat.

"What do you want me to say Melody, that it tasted _good_?!" Harmony said with another bitter laugh as she thought about that kiss, and the memory of what happened after.

Melody's eyes filled with fire as she looked at her sister, who had basically just admitted to loving Alec's taste, and her face twisted up in fury. She didn't see her hand until it was too late, and a lot SLAP! could be heard. A red imprint of her hand was on Harmony's face now, and the girl but one hand up to her cheek for a moment, before turning to Melody with a expression the girl would have never known she'd use. Pity.

"You just don't get it, do you?" Harmony said softly, her hand tracing the red mark that Melody's hand had left across her cheek. She slapped her. The bitch slapped her. Her mind was screaming for revenge, but she wouldn't sink to Melody's level. "Here's the real story. I went outside for a minute to get some air because it was all so overwhelming. Alec followed me, and I told him to leave me alone, but he didn't. _He_ kissed **me**, not the other way around. And you know what I did? I pushed him away and told him that I wasn't going to betray my sister by kissing him, and then I walked back inside, just to find you calling me a slut." Harmony said with a acid laugh, as she brushed away the tears from her face.

Melody's own face filled with shock and surprise as she looked at her twin. She had done that....for _her_? Oh. Ow. The guilt immediately started swelling up inside of her, and she swallowed deeply to keep the tears down. She called her sister a slut, and ruined her life.....and all because she had the wrong idea of what she had done.

"H-Harmony, I didn't k-know." Melody stammered out, as her eyes filled with tears of what she had done. But it was too late. She had said in front of basically the whole kingdom that Harmony was a slut.....ouch.

"Of course you didn't. You were too busy calling me as slut to ask me." Harmony said hatefully, swinging her back pack over her shoulder. The pain immediately started up, but she ignored it as she stared at Melody. "Go to hell." She said plainly across the room before running out of it as she felt the sobs in her throat. Melody looked up and across the room just to hear the echo of her feet across the wooden floor. Then she was startled as she turned a bit to her right and saw none other than her parents standing there. They had seen the whole thing.

"Of all of the things Melody to do to your own sister, _why_ this?! You didn't even bother asking her what had happened! You just assumed it was alright to disown her at _her_ party!" Ariel yelled, and Melody winced at the sound of it. As if she didn't feel bad enough about it.

"Alright I get your point; I shouldn't have called her a slut. Can I go?" Melody questioned with annoyance dripping from her voice. She had some serious thinking to do now about how she would fix this.

"NO!" Eric finally yelled, and Melody stood shell shocked at the middle of Harmony's room as Ariel faced her daughter with a expression she'd never seen before. "Melody, you handed up your own sister! Your twin sister just because you thought you saw something! You called her a slut, basically ruining her reputation! Wherever she goes now she'll here those whispers, and she'll know that YOU started this because of petty jealousy!" Eric roared, and Melody felt as though someone had just slapped her in the face, which ironically she had just done to Harmony.

"If that's not bad enough Melody, you _slapped_ her! First you ruin her reputation, then you hit her, what is the matter with you young lady?!" Ariel yelled too, and Melody bit her lip tightly to try to force back her tears. She'd never been yelled at in her life, ever. Reprimanded plenty of times by her mother and father, but never yelled at. This is what normal kids must feel like, she thought to herself.

"I-I didn't mean too! I just thought....." Melody let the idea trail off, but her parents were too furious to think about that.

"You're grounded, from now until-until-until winter, do you understand?! If you step one foot out of this palace...." Ariel wanted to stop yelling, but she couldn't seem to. She was just so....**mad** that it was impossible for her to. When had she turned into her Father?!

"But I'll miss summer!" Melody cried out, but she was responded by stony glares from her parents. Not the best thing to say.

"You should have thought of that before YOU CALLED YOUR SISTER A SLUT!" Eric yelled, and Melody finally lost her battle with the tears. Eric was just so mad! He couldn't even see straight! He had _yelled_ at his daughter....this was probably the worst thing he'd ever done to her.

She couldn't take any more of their yelling, she just couldn't! She ran from Harmony's room and into her own, wondering how she was going to fix this mess. Harmony had run away, her parents had yelled at her....shuddering she let loose a sob, and buried her face in her hands, as she cried.

She screwed things up, big time.

* * *

**Okay, so how did you like it? I know Harmony wasn't in this much, but i wanted you to see how Melody saw the story. Next chapter, i promise, will have alot of Harmony in it, so fans of hers rejoice. **

***Notes to remember* Harmony has just run away, Ariel and Eric are now shocked at what they just did, and Melody is a whiney little bitch. No, i'm just kidding, she's a whiney little teenager who should have known better than to sell out her own sister. Amazing how i write about Melody but i can still hate her (at least in this chapter i do). **

**Also, for most of you i know your thinking 'She bursts into tears cuz they yell?! My folks do that all the time!' So lemme clear up that point. Ariel and Eric, since losing Harmony, had become extremely overprotective of Melody, showering her with attenton 24/7. That's what made Ariel so quick to build a wall so Melody couldn't get into the sea because she was afraid Morgana would hurt her, and she didn't want to lose her only little girl now that Harmony had disapeared. But Ariel always remembered how much it hurt when she was yelled at by her father, and Eric was just always calm, so they decided not to yell at Melody. But all of a sudden when they start yelling, and i mean YELLING at her, Melody is scared and feels so terrible that words can't describe her pain. **

**Okay? So whew, thought i would clear that up for you. Anyway, keep reviewing and if your good with the reviews, i'll post another chapter by tonight.**


	20. Chapter 20

"_Don't lie and say that it's OK.  
It's alright here, there's nothing more to say.  
So I'm running away.  
I'm leaving this place.  
Yeah, I'm running away.  
I'm running away." _

Harmony sighed as she looked back at the palace, and then at her book bag. The song just formed on her lips as she walked along the shore, looking sadly back at what she was leaving.

"_Don't tell me I'm the one to blame.  
It's too late for you to make me stay.  
No, I won't stay.  
So I'm running away.  
I'm leaving this place.  
Yeah, I'm running away.  
I'm running away."_

Tears pooled at her eyes, but she didn't care. She couldn't go back now, no, it was impossible. They weren't going to accept her in this society if they thought she was a 'slut'. A flash of anger took over her as she grabbed a rock from the shore and threw it at the sea as hard as she could, remembering Melody's triumphant smirk as she looked at her after she called Harmony a slut.

"_And faster than you can follow me from this lonely place.  
And farther than you can find me, I'm leaving  
Yeah I'm leaving today.  
And I, I'll never let you find me.  
I'm leaving you behind with the past  
No, I won't look back.  
And I don't want to hear your reasons.  
Don't want to hear you tell me why I should stay."_

How could she do that to her?! She hadn't done a thing wrong! She pushed him away when he kissed her, but she still called her a slut. She had talked to her, made friends with her, and for what? So she could runaway in the end, heartbroken and in tears? Wiping the tears from her eyes as she pulled her hoodie closer around herself, she bitterly pushed up a sleeve and pressed the scissor blade against her arm, letting the blood seep out and onto the sand. She missed her family so much.....so much....

"_And try, and try to understand me  
And try to understand what I say when I say I can't stay  
I, I'm moving on from this place  
I'm leaving and I won't quit running away."_

They could never understand the pain this little 'adventure' has caused her. She couldn't ever see her family again, her friends, she wouldn't have even minded seeing her brother! All she wanted was at least a chance to go back home, and pretend that she was just another nobody in the world.....how many times she wished it was the other way around! How many times she'd dreamed of being a rock star, or an actress! How many times she wondered what life would be life if she hadn't shown up in her brother's room....well she finally got a taste of that. Bitterly, she looked back at the castle, before softly singing again.

"_I'm running away.  
I'm leaving this place.  
Yeah, I'm running away.  
I'm running away."_

She used to laugh with her friends, say that emo kids were the weirdest. She used to impersonate how they would talk. Her and her friends would laugh 'till tears fell down their faces, and then they'd laugh some more. They used to pretend they were emo, just for the hell of it. She'd always thought 'Life must be really bad if you have to cut yourself. Besides, cutting yourself wasn't the _only_ solution.'

She had been wrong. It was the only solution, to take the pain away at least. Oh sure, she could smoke. But a nicotine addiction was something she didn't want right now, plus during health class they had handed out sheets that said 'Smoking takes off seven minutes of your life, for every packet.' Actually, shaving off a few minutes of her life sounded pretty well right now....too bad she didn't have a cigarette. The only one she had in her book bag she'd smoked maybe a minute's worth before having to put it out because.....no, she didn't even want to think about it.

"Hey kid!" A voice called out, and Harmony stopped in her tracks, scanning the dark beach for any signs of life. Nope, none. Maybe she was just imagining it. Yeah, that's it. That's probably it. "Kid! Over here!" The gruff voice called out again, and Harmony stiffened, scared of who was calling. She'd seen enough of the news to know cute red head walking down the beach, at night.....well, it wasn't a good idea.

"W-Who's there?" Her voice shook as she called out into the night, and she heard water splash for a moment, before looking sharply to the water. There was this....huge black shape in the water, just there. Letting her eyes adjust to the darkness more she saw that it wasn't a shape.....it was a shark! A really, really, really gigantic shark but a shark none the less. "What do you want?" She wondered glumly, not caring if she was talking to a shark or not. She wasn't in the best of moods right now, she just wanted to be alone....or for someone to understand her.

"Hey Kid, looks like you've had it rough." Undertow said with a whistle as he stared at the girl sitting on the sand who raised her head. He knew Morgana's orders, coax the girl into coming to see her by any means necessary. "You know you should see Morgana. She's pretty understanding about this kind of stuff." Undertow said, but under his breath he muttered something that Harmony couldn't quite catch.

"M-Morgana? Who's that?" Harmony questioned and Undertow almost laughed. They'd been hoping for this kind of reaction, the one where the girl had no clue as to who Morgana was. They'd seen her through the orb; Ariel's other daughter, the one that had been raised by strangers with no recollection of who she really was.

"Morgana? She's the best. She'll definitely help you out kid." Undertow lied, almost laughing at the irony. Last time he'd done this the girl had acted the exact same, unknowing and wanting a friend, someone to talk to. Melody had wanted to be a mermaid, that had been easy. But Harmony wanted to go back to her old home, not with Ariel and Eric, not that Undertow could blame her. That would be hard to convince her that it was possible, but all in good time.

"S-She will?" Harmony questioned slowly, brushing back her stray locks. Someone to help her out! Maybe this Morgana could point her in the direction of Nebraska....or the nearest outlet so she could charge her cell phone because her battery died.

"Of course! But don't listen to me kid, why don't 'cha see her yourself? Come on, I'll give you a lift. Hop on my back." Undertow said, sizing the girl up. She was a shrimp! He could eat her in one bite....not really his taste though. Now dolphins on the other fin, _that's_ some good eating. Good thing his teeth grew back in after that stupid Melody made him crash.

"Um....okay." What did she have to lose? Her dignity? Because being called a slut hadn't made her lose it already. Her self respect? Yeah, she had a bunch of self respect, that's why she cut herself and smoked. Her family? Family members didn't hand up other family members.

Swallowing a big lump in her throat, she stepped into the water, soaking her converse and jeans until she was knee deep before using his dorsal fin to hoist herself up all the way. She clutched onto his dorsal fin tightly as she rode on his back like she would a horse.

"Ready kid?" Undertow wondered as he felt the girl position herself comfortably on his back. What did she weigh?! Eighty pounds?! It was like he was carrying that crab whatever-his-name-was on his back!

"Um...yeah." Harmony said, clutching onto his fin even tighter. As Undertow grunted in agreement and started swimming with the girl on his back. All he had to do was stay on the surface for her to breathe, nothing that tricky. She was going to be even easier to trick into giving Morgana the Triton than Melody.

* * *

**The song, unfortunately, is not mine, but it does fit perfectly! It's by midnight hour, the song is runaway so ya. How did you like it? Wasn't it...not intense, but not cute either. Somewhere in the middle i guess. Anyway, review! **

**And chapter 21 will be mostly about Ariel, Eric, and Melody so just a heads up to all Harmony fan's, im sorry but you have to see some conversations between them to fully grasp the story (wow, i sound so smart!) **

**Review, and to all who have, i say thanks....for the memories even though they weren't so great....sorry, im a bit on planet mars right now, no wait, i mean my MIND is, but thats okay....or maybe it isn't. Hm. Well you read while i sit down and think this over**


	21. Chapter 21

"Just keep an eye out for her Daddy. I'm sure she wouldn't go in the sea, but you know teenagers." Ariel sighed, as Eric held her closer to himself on the ship. How much déjà vu this brought back, except last time she had known where Melody was....somewhere in the sea. But Harmony, that girl just disappeared. Her footsteps went to a certain spot that lead to the sea, but she was a smart teen, and she may be trying to lead them away from where she was really going.

"Don't worry Ariel; I'm sure she's fine." Triton reassured his daughter, but deep inside him, he couldn't be too sure. Why was it that Ariel, then Melody, and _then_ Harmony all had to swim away? Of course Ariel's daughters inherited their mother's spunk and spirit, but why did they always have to swim away? What was it with them?

"Morgana's back." A soft, almost whispered voice said, as the said owner of that voice came out of hiding from under a canvas and gave her parents a look that said all. Melody shivered in the cold night air, she only had her nightgown on because she had snuck out to the ship when she knew her parents were going to warn her grandfather.

"Melody what are you doing out here? At this time of night! You should be sleeping." And grounded, Ariel's voice reminded her, and she gave a heavy sigh. It's not that she liked grounding Melody, but what she had done was unacceptable. No, not even unacceptable is the word for how she betrayed her sister. Kissing the boy your sister likes is one thing that can be resolved because it's happened numerous times, but when she calls her a slut in front of the people of the kingdom she was meeting with....well now Harmony would never get her clean slate back. Perhaps she had messed around with a few boys, but what teenage girls didn't?

"I created the problem mother. It's my fault Harmony ran away, it's only right if I fix this." Melody said softly, rubbing her arms on both her bare arms fast to create some heat to warm her up. "Like I said, Morgana is back. Don't ask me how I know it, I just do. I can just feel it." Unintentionally she shuddered at the thought of it, wincing at the memory of falling.

"She could hurt Harmony!" Eric said, as Ariel gripped onto him for support. Once her only daughter had been tricked by a ruthless monster, now was history going to repeat itself? No one thought to question Melody on how she knew this or not.....because they all could understand. If Ursula came back, Ariel would feel the exact same....once a monster attacked you, they left a sort of sixth sense to know if they were back or not.

"I'll have search parties scour the sea for her immediately." Triton said resolved, but Melody shook her head and sighed at how naïve the adults were being.

"Morgana won't want to hurt her, she'll use her as bait, the same thing she did with me. Right now Harmony is confused, scared, and angry....Morgana is going to get into her head and make it seem as though she's on her side. Then she'll promise her the one thing she wants so badly, but only if she can get the Triton so that she can make it permanent." Melody said softly, as she felt her father drape his cloak around her as she shivered. She looked up at him for a moment, scared considering all that had happened, but his eyes only held that humor they always did, as his face tried to reign back a smile.

"So we find Harmony and tell her Morgana is lying, simple." Ariel said, resolved, but Melody only shook her head at her mother.

"No, not that simple. See, Harmony is going to think that only Morgana understands her, and if you tell her she's lying, that'll only make her mad and she'll want to steal the Triton more." Melody explained, as Triton nodded in agreement.

"That sounds true. Teenagers will always do the opposite of what you tell them, just to spite you." Triton said, as Ariel came up with a resolution in her mind, as she turned to Eric first, then Melody, then her father.

"So we convince her that we can make that one thing she wants come true, and she'll come to us. What's the one thing she really wants?" Ariel asked softly into the still night, all of the adults wondering. It wasn't an adult who knew the answer; it was a teenager who knew exactly how Harmony was going to be played, and how much it would hurt when it blew up in her face at the end. But she had to still say what Harmony really wanted, more than anything in her heart, as tough as it might be.

"What she really wants.... that's simple. To go back home."

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**sorry its so short, but i didn't want this scene to take too long because you still have to see Harmony with Morgana, and well, you know how it goes. So, now what do you think of guilt-stricken Melody? It's amazing what guilt will do to a person, i swear. **

**In the next chapter...."She'd never thought---but---wow!" Actual quotation from my next chapter. Review and find out what she's thinking of, and how it changes the story quite a bit. **

**Okay, so im exhausted (woke up 7:30 cuz my parents decided to talk extremely loud so i couldn't get back to sleep,) so i'm just going not even attempt another chapter tonight, that's how exhausted i am. **

**REVIEW people, i only have ten so far (not that they aren't awesome!) it's just that i want a little more than 'wow, that was so good' Constructive critisism, questions, what you think should happen, i would luv to see that in the reviews, please. **

**Luv ya guys always, **

**Converse r Life**


	22. Chapter 22

"So you can help me get back home?!" Harmony said with shining eyes at the thought of it. Home, where she could sneak down at midnight to the freezer and eat all the ice cream she wanted, and then blame it on her brother the next day. Just the thought of it made her smile.

"Of course I can sweetheart. But, I'm afraid my magic isn't what it used to be in my......_younger_ days. To send you back home, I would need the Triton.....but it was stolen from me years ago, and I'm afraid I don't know who has it or where it is." Morgana said with a heavy sigh for the effect. Honestly Ariel, she thought to herself, you screw up with one of your daughters by not telling her an evil sea witch that wants to control the sea is after her and you don't explain the power of the Triton.....don't you ever learn from your mistakes?

Morgana looked over at the girl's appearance for a moment, her mind wondering how bad it must hurt if she believed all these lies. How desperate she must be to get back home. She seemed like a smart girl, smarter than her sister and mother, that's for sure. She could see the hesitance behind her words, the shifty eyes that said she couldn't believe any of this.....but her heart spoke above her mind and told her that home is where she needed to be. Stupid, stupid girl. It easier to get the Triton from this girl than it had been from Melody, that's also for sure.

"My...._grandfather_ had a thing that I heard my....._mother_ call the Triton." Harmony started slowly, choosing her words carefully. Something told her that this wasn't a good idea, but she was desperate for any chance to go back home, and if this was the only way, so be it. "I think he lives in this place called....um...._Atlantica_. If I could get the Triton that he stole from you back....you would zap me back home, to Nebraska, right?!" Harmony asked leaning forward closer to Morgana.

"Of course sweetheart! Why would I lie?" Morgana said, with a kind smile, as Undertow muttered something under his breath. She let one of her tentacles slide around the girl's shoulders in sympathy to her problem, as she already had it planned out in her mind. How easy this family was to deceive! "But, if you were to go to Atlantica, you would have to be a mermaid....and I know my magic still has some in it to change you into one." Morgana said sweetly, as she got up and started to rummage through some shelves for that blasted bottle of Ursula's magic.

The power inside that bottle was so strong that it had survived Triton destroying her old lair....too bad he didn't think to destroy her, instead of just making her stay frozen solid in a block of ice. Ugh, that had been annoying for the first day she'd spent in it. Good thing she crashed against those jagged rocks, freeing her. And she'd spent the last two years preparing, waiting for the opportunity to get back at them, and then Harmony showed up.

"Mermaid? But---never mind. As long as I get home I'll do whatever it takes." Harmony said, more to herself than anyone. Mermaid...just week ago if you had asked her that she would have said she cared less if there were merpeople or not, she had better things to think about. Now she was going to _be_ one. Ironic.

"One drop of this and you'll be a mermaid!" Morgana said sweetly, almost laughing at how much déjà vu this brought back. But this time the girl wasn't doing this for a stupid reason, she was doing it to go back to the only home she'd ever known...until a few days ago.

"And then I'll get your Triton back for you." Harmony said as she saw Morgana smile at her in that sweet-but-shuddering way before she saw a drop of whatever was in the bottle fall onto her foot.

Morgana's laugh echoed in her ears, but she could care less as she was eyeing the green swirl that had taken control over her legs and as she was lifted into the air. She could feel it as she closed her eyes, remembering to breathe steadily. Her legs were shifting, bones disappearing, muscles melting into one another, her upper body being taken control of as the sweatshirt and Woodstock Tee turned into....something that felt like a bra, but not. Opening her eyes, just to peek, she realized that the green swirl was disappearing, and that her new body just took control and jumped into the water.

Her eyesight under the water was just as crystal as it was on land....and she realized she was breathing. No, not breathing....but something like it. She could stay under water forever it seemed, never turning back to the surface, or to land. Her body needed the water, the water felt...._right_. It was almost a giddy sensation to be a mermaid. She'd never thought----but----wow! It wasn't as bad as she thought! She almost started laughing....but she caught sight of what was important, getting back Morgana's Triton. She had her tail propel her to the surface of the water.

She saw Morgana's sweet-but-still-shudder-worthy face, as she handed her something. A block of ice? No....ah, a map! Okay, this shouldn't be too hard. A map of how to get to Atlantica, and then from there to King Triton's palace. How did she know her grandfather was King Triton?!

"Hurry back!" Morgana called out to the teen as she saw her shake her red head at something and swim out of her cave, and around Undertow's huge form. Easy, really. It was just like they _wanted _her to deceive the teen, and then have her steal the Triton, without so much of hard work herself. So simple....oh Ursula would have loved to see how well she was playing this girl! And Mother....Mother would finally see that she was the favorite one, not dead Ursula.

"Think the kid will make it back?" Undertow asked with a whistle to himself as he saw how fast she could swim. Damn, that girl had some serious speed.

"Of course she will. They always do." Morgana said, throwing her head back and laughing. So easy, so simple, so delightfully evil!

* * *

**How'd ya like it? This is mostly centered around Morgana, i know, but not the next chapter, but the chapter after will be all about Harmony. Promise! So, how are you liking the story so far? Trust me, when two chapters from now it's centered around Harmony, you'll see how she REALLY feels about her tail, and how badly she wants to---wait, no, i'll just leave you hanging right there. **

**REVIEW! Come on people, i know that it's hard to spend thirty seconds writing something, but seriously, it's ONLY thirty seconds. And if your reading my story you must have nothing else better to do. **

**Lol, still luv you guys, **

**Converse r Life**


	23. Chapter 23

"Where _is_ she?!" Ariel wondered as she swam through the water. Once again she was a mermaid, once again she was looking for her daughter, and once again, she knew her daughter had gone to Morgana.

"Probably trying to swim to Atlantica to steal the Triton, with the map Morgana gave her." Melody said, almost dryly as she swam behind her mother, her eyes looking from left to right at everything. It wasn't like this was the first time she'd ever been a mermaid after what happened two years ago, that's what her locket was for now. To turn her into a mermaid in the water, but still give her the option to be human on land.

"Melody....." Ariel warned, not liking her daughter's tone of voice. Why oh why did Melody have to come along? She didn't want her in the face of danger, but the girl had insisted she knew more about this than the adults, and they had to agree.

"I know, I know. Shut up." Melody answered with a crooked smile, as her mother groaned. Great, while she had to look for her teenage daughter, her other one was going to annoy her. Then a thought hit her about Harmony.

"Melody, when you said Harmony cut herself every night....what did you mean?" Ariel wondered, and Melody practically crashed into her mother, shocked. Ariel gave her daughter a small smile as the girl shook it off and tried to keep swimming straight.

"She's going to kill me if I tell you, but she already hates me so it'll be nothing new." Melody said with a bitter laugh as Ariel stopped swimming a moment, to look at her daughter carefully. The girl had grown so much in two years! For starters, she could no longer wear a human top because she was too big for them. She had to wear shells, not that she complained or anything. Red shells to match her red tail, of course.

"What are you talking about?" Ariel simply asked as she put her hand on Melody's arm, and the girl sighed, keeping her gaze at her fins instead of her mother's eyes.

"She showed me the cuts....on both her arms. She said it helps her deal with the pain....that it doesn't hurt anymore when she cuts herself." Melody said softly, as Ariel's mouth dropped practically to the floor.

"What pain?" Ariel asked so softly, she knew that if Melody had even been a centimeter back, she wouldn't have heard it.

"The pain of losing her old life." Melody whispered, and Ariel could only gulp in response. Harmony....cut herself? How could she have not known?! But then again, she didn't want to know at the same time. So, she started swimming again, Melody right at her fins. They swam in silence for awhile, before Melody couldn't take it anymore and she blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"So where are we going?" She blurted, as Ariel whirled around to face her daughter, one eyebrow arched in a skeptical expression as her eyes held a trace of motherly protection in them.

" 'We're' not going anywhere. _You_ are going back to the palace, and staying there, while _**I**_ search for Harmony. You're still grounded, even if we're not at home." Ariel stated, as Melody's eyes got wide and flashed. Stay in the palace and be grounded, was she crazy?!

"But I can help you find Harmony! Mother this isn't fair!" Melody shouted as Ariel only held up a hand to stop her from going any further with this. Her Melody was **not** going to be in the face of danger again when she didn't need to be. It was unreasonable for her to stay.

"Melody, there's no need for you shout. I can hear you just fine." Ariel started, as she looked at an already sulking Melody. "Second, it's late, way past _your_ curfew. Third, there's no need for you to be in the way of danger. Fourth, you're still grounded. Whether we're on land or in the sea, you aren't going anywhere for at least the next month. And finally, fifth, if you don't go back to the palace while your Aunts watch over you for awhile, I'll _add_ another week to your punishment." Ariel stated, as she turned to a furious still Melody.

"That's not fair; I can start my punishment once we get back home! I know how to help, why you won't let me go?!" Melody asked, furious but calming down some so she didn't shout and get into trouble.

"You've helped enough already Melody." Ariel said calmly to her daughter's fully fledged fury. "Just go back to Atlantica, steer clear of the search for your sister, and I'll take off a week from your punishment. I think that's reasonable." Ariel said, as she brushed a tendril of her daughter's black hair away from her face.

"It's definitely the opposite of reasonable!" Melody said, and her Mother grimaced as she looked at her daughter. She knew that stubborn will.....oh she knew it all too well. Her very own was just the same.

"I can and will deliver you to your Aunts directly if I have to Melody. I'd prefer not to, but if that's what it takes to keep you safe then I'll babysit you all the way back to Atlantica." Ariel said, and Melody opened her mouth, but no words came out.

"This is unfair!" Melody said, but her incentive was fading fast. Ariel gave her a half hearted smile and hugged her daughter close to her.

"I know it is sweetheart, but I don't want you in harm's way if I can help it. Just be good and go stay with your Aunts, at least for the time being." Ariel said, kissing her daughter's forehead, before gently pushing her back to the lights of Atlantica. Melody sighed and grimaced at the thought of having to go all the way back to the palace, where her Aunts would only fuss over her. No! She hadn't come along just to be sent back! She was going to find Harmony, no matter what it took.

"Fine." Another heavy sigh came through her lips, as she realized those rebellious thoughts were what got her grounded in the first place. Or wait. Mother thinks she's with her Aunts, her Aunts think she's with Mother.....yes! It was the perfect set up! She could just not go back to the palace!

"Oh and Melody? If you even _think_ about sneaking off, I'll figure it out sooner or later, and then you'll be grounded for another month." Ariel said with a sweet smile to the sour deflated look that her daughter gave her. Good thing she caught that look on her face in time to threaten her with another month of being grounded.

"Damn it!" Melody muttered under her breath as she swam away from her mother, who she knew was watching her swim back. On the other hand....another month of being grounded wouldn't be too bad....it's not like she'd miss anything important....okay! She'd still go ahead with her sneak off plan, but keep it low profile so that no one knew she wasn't supposed to be grounded in the palace. And Mother thought she could threaten, pssht, no way! Not her!

"Do you really believe she'll go back?" A Jamaican accent sounded out as Ariel smiled at her daughter swam back to the 'palace.'

"Not a chance. Sebastian, can you make sure she gets back to the girls? I don't want her getting hurt." Ariel said with a sigh, as the crab also sighed, but nodded, muttering something under his breath about babysitting teenagers. Ariel smiled despite herself and swept her friend up in a hug. "You're the best Sebastian." She said as she released her hug on her crab friend, and he smiled at her, despite the situation.

"Tell dat to me aching claws." He muttered under his breath as he swam off after Melody. Ariel only laughed lightly behind him, and he smiled fully hearing her laugh. Oh boy did that take him back so many years.

* * *

**Ah, this was a good chapter to write. I actually enjoyed it, even though the begining is really intense. Not that i don't enjoy writing all my chapters, it's just that i favor some more than others, you know because i'm just like that. How did you like the end with Sebastian? Cute huh? I luved that part. **

**Alright alright, get ready cuz hear it comes, Review, yadda yadda yadda, i rant, i mentally blow up all who read and don't review, yadda yadda yadda....okay, and i'm back! **

**Next Chapter is about Harmony so fans of hers rejoice! You finally see another chapter centered around her! **


	24. Chapter 24

"Okay, if this is north....then that would be south...or wait. Never. Eat. Soggy. Waffles. Ohhh, okay, so that would mean south was that way! Alright, I got this!" Harmony said triumphantly to herself, placing the map under her arm protectively as she started to swim to Atlantica. It was half a day's journey, according to the map, and dawn was already breaking so that must mean that she was going to get there and back by tonight. Easy.

Ariel was in official panic mode of not finding her daughter the entire night. She had gone back to the palace to check on any updates of her daughter and to find that Melody was fast asleep in her old bed.

"Ariel, don't worry so much. I'm sure Harmony is fine." Attina said to her sister, seeing her distress. Ariel dimly nodded, as if her older sister's words past right through her. Attina noticed she was barely listening, and almost grimaced at how many times that had happened. "Why don't you get some breakfast?" She asked in a hopeful voice, although she knew it was a long shot.

"No, I'm going back out to search for her. Keep Melody safe, okay?" Ariel said, brushing her hair back with her fingers. It was out of control since she'd spent the entire night looking for Harmony. Attina noticed it, and a soft smile spread to her lips as she grabbed her sister's hand. At least she could provide a temporary distraction for her smallest sister.

"Come on." Attina only said with a wink as Ariel groaned and let herself be taken....to her old mirror. Ariel could remember her sisters begging their father for a bigger space for all of their 'necessities' as in makeup, brushes, mirrors....and after a while he'd finally relented and deemed a specific globe like structure that hadn't been used in years to be their own.

"Attina, what are you doing?" Ariel asked, as her sister only winked and picked up a brush that was just lying around. The letter A was written on it in a flourish of a initial, but one could see where Ariel had grabbed a pen and written on the side next to the A the rest of her name.

"I'm brushing your hair. It's annoying me to see it so out of control." Attina answered with a smile to the mirror as Ariel sat still, feeling like a small girl again instead of her 31 year old self.

"You do realize you said that probably every day of my childhood, and I never once paid any attention to you, right?" Ariel said with a soft laugh to Attina's laugh. "You haven't brushed out my hair in years Attina, why the sudden change?" Ariel wondered, as Attina grinned and kept moving her sister's brush through her hair.

"Thirteen, to be exact." Attina said as she tried to brush out a stubborn knot in her sister's hair.

"You counted?!" Ariel asked surprised. Attina nodded and started humming softly to herself, and she grinned when she looked in the mirror and saw her sister roll her eyes. Just like old times. "You didn't answer my question. Why the sudden change?" Ariel asked again, eyebrows raised speculatively as her sister grinned.

"Can't a sister brush out her younger sister's hair? Besides, I've missed you." Attina said, but she made her tone light so that she didn't alarm Ariel. They had all dealt with the pain of Ariel becoming human differently, but it still hurt. She wanted so much for her sister to be a mermaid again, to stay with them in Atlantica. But Ariel would never do such a thing because she loved her life on land, and her family.

"Attina...when I left the sea, I know it hurt everyone a lot to see me gone. How did you deal with the pain?" Ariel asked as she fiddled with a strand of her hair, feeling as though she was still a little girl and she was asking her oldest sister a big question.

Attina pursed her lips, not commenting on Ariel's sudden change of topics as she kept brushing out her hair, as though nothing had been said. She was quiet for a few moments, thinking the question over before sighing and finally coming with a solid answer in her mind.

"It was hard at first....with you being gone to the.....people the killed our mother." Attina held up a hand for silence as she saw Ariel's mouth open to interrupt. "Don't be mad Ariel, that's just how we all saw it at first. We hadn't gone up to the surface since we were children....we'd been told that humans would kill us like they did....Mom. It really was hard to see you all grown up, and not our baby sister anymore....but time went on and we just became...._accustomed_ to the idea that you were now human." Attina stopped there as she saw Ariel's gaze fall back to her hair, not willing to look into her oldest sister's eyes. "Why do you ask?"

Ariel sighed heavily and turned around to face Attina, swallowing a big gulp in her throat. "When Harmony had been....missing, she had a life. Friends. Family. She was just pulled out of her world, the only world she ever knew of, and then she came back into all of our lives, and we never for once thought to think about how hurt she must have been. I was just wondering how it had been for you girls, you know, with me being human when I was only sixteen." Ariel purposely left out the fact of Harmony cutting herself, because she just refused to believe it. No, her other daughter wouldn't cut herself! Melody was probably just mad and she didn't want to call off her bluff, so she lied. Simple.

"She's a teenager Ariel, you of all people should know how they act. She's confused, scared, mad....sounding familiar? She'll turn up soon though so don't worry. Eat some breakfast, _rest_ a little...you need it." Attina pleaded, but Ariel only shook her head at her older sister.

"I have to find her Attina. I can't just wait around while she's out there, somewhere!" Ariel said, and Attina sighed deeply, putting her sister's brush down before coming to a conclusion in her mind.

"Fine. Then I'm coming with you." She said confidently, as Ariel shook her head quickly, a pleading look on her face for her older sister to hear her out.

"No you're not Attina. I'm not going to get you into trouble if there's no need. Besides, you have a family." Ariel stated, and Attina snorted, waving her hand to dismiss what Ariel had just said.

"Damon can take care of Coral and Cori for awhile; he knows that I have to help you out. Ariel, I'm not Melody, you can't tell me what I can and can't do. I'm going to search for Harmony with you little sister, and that's final." Attina said with a malicious grin to her sister's groan. Now more than ever did she enjoy being the oldest of all her sisters.

"Alright, fine! But, just because you're the oldest Attina, doesn't mean you can tell me what to do." Ariel stated once again, crossing her arms over her shells in an attempt to be serious with her sister. Attina only laughed as she pulled on her sister's arm, to exit the room.

"You seem to forget, _little_ sister, that it does." Attina said with another laugh, almost patting herself on the back. She'd at least lifted up Ariel's spirits for the time being. They'd find Harmony together, of course they would.

* * *

**Not much of Harmony, i know, even though i promised you her. Next chapter will be better for her, don't worry. It'll be split between her and a certain mergirl named Melody.....lol, cliffhangers are the best! **

***Notes* Ariel is in denial if you haven't noticed it yet about Harmony cutting herself. Coral and Cori are Attina's children, aged 12(Coral) and 11(Cori who's a boy). **

**Special thanks to Jas** **the constructive critiscism, and you're right, i should put that in the story. I'll just have to find a way to fit it in somehow, but i'll do it don't worry. **

**Another Special thanks to Emily (Emiline, Emitha, Remy) for having the idea of the striped journal that was mentioned in previous chapters, and actualy having all my friends fill it up for me because i wasn't going to the same high school as them. **

**Just a note to any boys who might be reading this, or girls who know boys: If you were in San Fransisco, during the past Spring Break i want you to go to facebook and search up the group 'The Never Ending Quest to Find Romeo Raii' and check out the picture to see if that's you! **

**Review as you see fit, and you know what gross that i just remembered? Ozzy Osborn ripped the head off of a bat with his teeth during a concert once....ew....**


	25. Chapter 25

Harmony tired eyes looked up from the map for a moment to see this Atlantica place. It was like a mini town! Small stores, kids playing, teenagers chilling, Adults shopping, and then, at the very end of the town, was.....the biggest castle she'd ever seen. She'd seen castles and palaces in pictures, hell; in the third grade they had her art class draw and color their ideal palace. Never in that time had she ever dreamed of seeing something so grand!

All in gold, the castle was the shimmering light of this town, towering over it at a truly amazing height, like the size of a sky scraper in New York City! Wait, but if that was the size of a sky scraper....wow, she really was far under the water. For some that might be cool.....but for a teen who had never actually been in the sea before today, well, that was just plain creepy.

Stop staring and focus on getting the Triton that voice in the back of her head shouted, making her wince. Right, she had to get that Triton her 'grandfather' stole from Morgana if she ever wanted to go back home. Swimming through the town, none really paid her much attention as they went about their things, but some kids stared at her as she swam past them. Shrugging it off, she swam until she was near the palace, almost giggling at how amazing this was.

"Hey! I don't think I've ever seen you 'round here. What's your name?" A merboy asked, swimming up next to Harmony. His friends came along her other side as she stopped for a moment to smile at them.

"I'm Kathy. You?" Harmony said as she used her other name out of habit, from years and years of introducing herself. Well, soon enough it would be true.

"I'm Adrian. That's Danny and Melissa." Adrian said as he stared at the girl intently. Wow, she was really pretty. But she looked a lot like....Melody? Nah, no way! But....wait. Didn't Melody have a twin sister that was missing, named Harmony? She did look an awful lot like Melody....but she said her name was Kathy! It was probably just a coincidence that her hair was the color of Ariel's, and that she had bright blue eyes just like Melody. Just a really freaky coincidence.

"Hi!" Melissa said brightly, also noticing the coincidence that she looked an awful lot like Melody. Maybe she was that girl, Harmony that everyone was searching for....

"What's up?" Danny asked coolly, with a grin to the mergirl's smile. It was hard not to see her obvious cuteness....and the fact that she was probably Harmony, Melody's twin that had gone missing.

"Nothing much. Just swimming 'round." Harmony answered without hesitation, already being a good liar. But she could see these merkid's faces, and she knew that they had figured her out to be Harmony instead of Kathy. They were going to turn her in! NO! She'd have to get away from them, somehow.

"Cool. Hey, do you know Melody by any chance? You look a lot like her..." Adrian said, and with surprised when the girl looked surprised. She can't possibly be Melody's twin if she's surprised to hear that name, he mind told him, and he believed it. Either she was sincere, or just a really, really, really, good liar.

"I know that melody is part of a song....but I don't think I've ever met a person named Melody, sorry." Harmony lied easily, finding a way to escape from these kids now. "I've got to go. My mom wants me back home to babysit." Harmony said with a roll of her eyes for the effect "I'll see you guy's later, 'k?"

"Um....sure! Yeah, definitely." Melissa answered, meaning it when she said that. New girl in town, she was probably looking for a friend or two to show her everything. Atlantica could be a confusing place at times.

"Bye!" Adrian called as he saw Harmony turn away. No, not Harmony, _Kathy_, his mind corrected him. Still, something inside of him told him that she was really Harmony, not Kathy.

"Idiots." Harmony muttered under her breathe as she swam towards a door that guards were standing by, each one at an attention. Hm....how would she get passed them?

"No one is allowed in throne room right now young lady." One of them said as he saw a young mergirl approach the door. Her face frowned for a moment, before it became a fully fledged pout that was hard not to resist.

"But I was in the throne room yesterday, and I think I lost my bracelet in there. Can I just go in and check? I'll only be a minute at most, promise!" Harmony said with sincerity ringing through her voice as she tried to crack this guard down. He seemed as though he was going to let her in, when the other jumped in.

"Sorry, no one is allowed in." The other guard said, seeing as how his friend wasn't able to answer because the girl had him wrapped around her finger. She reminded him of someone....but whom?

"But you don't understand! That was my mom's bracelet, and I kind of took it without asking and if I don't get it back I'm going to be in a lot of trouble! Please, please, please, please let me in! I swear I'll be out in a minute!" Wow, this was getting to be a good lie! All those years of saying she'd done her homework when she hadn't had finally paid off!

"We-ell....we're really not supposed to let anyone in, but if it's that important, I guess we can make an exception. You've got one minute to look for it." The first guard answered, moving aside from the door as the mergirl shot him a grateful smile, and swam in, thanking both of them.

Were all merpeople idiots, or just the ones she lied to? Almost laughing, she swam inside what looked like a throne room, and her eyes scanned it for that fork Triton thingy.

There it was! The Triton! King whatever-his-name-was must be somewhere else right now! Oh it was the perfect opportunity! No one was around; she could take that Triton and be back to Morgana's by sunset.

Her breathe caught in her throat as she felt her heart beat fast as swam forward. Almost there....almost...was that..._voices_ down the corridor?! Oh shit! She had to work fast! They were getting closer! She grasped both hands tightly against the Triton, and pulled with all her effort to get it out of the stand. Perfect! Shit, they were almost here! Swim you idiot, swim as fast as your freaking tail can carry you, her mind screamed, and she did just that with an adrenaline rush! But...she couldn't go outside that way, no, there were guards! Shit! She'd have to hide. Where?! There, behind that pillar! Diving behind the pillar, she didn't even take a relieved breath as she heard the voices enter the throne room.

"Ariel, I'm sure she's fine." That voice of her so called 'grandfather' said, as another voice she also recognized rang out.

"Daddy's right Ariel, don't worry." Wasn't that the voice of one of her...um...'aunts'? Whatever. All that mattered now was her escaping.

"Daddy! You're Triton! It's...._gone_." Ariel practically shouted as her heart started beating fast. The Triton was the most powerful thing out there....who could have taken it?!

"Alright girl, your time is---sir!" The guard said, embarrassed, as he stood stock still in the middle of the throne room, surprised to see the king and not that little mergirl.

"Girl? What girl?! My orders were no one was to enter the throne room." Triton said coolly, as the guard looked down at the ground, embarrassed.

"Well sir...there was this mergirl and she said that she thought she lost her bracelet in here yesterday and she said she'd be in here for only a minute so she could look for it." The guard explained, as Ariel's eyes lit up at 'mergirl'.

"Wait. What did she look like?" Ariel questioned, as the guard swallowed uncomfortably.

"She had red hair....like yours actually, and those bright blue eyes.....oh! And a tail color that I've never seen before. It was a sky blue." The guard explained, his mind reeling over itself. What had he done, letting some little mergirl come in here! No one noticed the silent laughter coming from a pillar as Harmony heard the guards voice and thought of how she'd totally fooled him.

"Harmony. She was here! Daddy, she must have taken the Triton!" Ariel practically shouted, as Attina put a restraining hand on her sister to tell her not to be too excited, that the Triton was still missing.

"But if she stole the Triton, how would she have gotten out? There are guards everywhere around here Ariel!" Attina said wisely as Triton nodded at his oldest in agreement to her words.

"She's right Ariel. If Harmony had taken my Triton, she would have never been able to get away with it." Triton stated, as they all mulled that thought over in their heads as the guard in the middle of the room, slowly backed out, as to not get into any trouble...at least anymore. Outsmarted by a teenage girl, wow. While Triton, Attina, and Ariel tried to discuss at least who would have taken the Triton, another teen outside was trying to get inside.

"Princess Melody, for the last time, **no one** is allowed in the throne room." The only guard at the moment outside said, as his fellow friend came back to look at the teenager up and down. Princess Melody, daughter of Ariel, who was currently in the throne room.

"I don't care what you say. I'm going in because I need to talk to my Grandfather!" Melody said furiously, and the guard was just about to tell her to leave, when he was stopped by his friend.

"Let her go in Tom. Her mother's in their too, she can't do anything." He said, moving aside for the princess, who was smirking at Tom, swam in easily. She heard the adults talking and was about to ask them what, when she saw it. A flash of red hair behind a pillar, trying to hide better. No...it couldn't be. Swimming quietly closer to the pillar near the Triton stand, she definitely saw a good view of bright red hair. Now if her mother was the one talking, then....who....?

"Harmony!" Melody shouted, startling the adults as a wide eyed Harmony had her wrist gripped by her sister. Harmony's eyes narrowed at Melody, who realized she had the Triton in her other hand, as with amazing strength, she kicked Melody to the floor with her tail, releasing her from the death grip as she swam with speed that shouldn't be possible for a new mergirl like her, out of the throne room. Melody muttered something under her breath as she swam after her sister, who she knew, would get caught by the guards that were posted by the only possible escape from the throne room.

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**Okay, so maybe it was long and not really evenly split between Melody and Harmony, but i thought Harmony needed to be in this chapter more than Melody. How'd ya like this chapter? I seriously loved writing Harmony's little good girl act to fool the merkids and the guards, i think that was the best part about writing this chapter. That and the sarcasm she has after she fools them, or the silent laughter she had when the gaurd came in. **

**REVIEW! Okay, i'll try to post another chapter tonight, just for all who've reviewed this story. **


	26. Chapter 26

"Harmony wait!" Melody cried out, desperately swimming after her sister, who was just zooming past the guards. She could hear in the distance her Grandfather calling his guards to catch Harmony, but the girl was too fast, and by the time the guards got the message, she was way past them. Still, they'd been trained to deal with situations like this, and they swam the hell after her, Melody just a few feet ahead of them.

"Go to hell!" Harmony called over her shoulder back at Melody, laughing as she saw how far ahead of the girl and the guards she was. Damn, they must really want this Triton. Of course by stealing this Triton she was no better than the common street thief, but who the hell cared about that when she was only hours to getting back home. Home. Where on Saturday mornings you wake up to the smell of cinnamon rolls baking, and on Sundays there's pancakes. She could already smell them, just smothered with syrup and her chocolate milk by the plate, she could taste it in her mouth....

"Harmony! Stop swimming! I need to talk to you!" Melody called out as she saw her sister slow down a bit. She was barely an arm's length away when the girl looked over her shoulder, startled, and then took off again, so fast that by the time the guards reached Melody, they were out of breath, and Harmony was long gone, too far for any of them to now see.

"Melody!" A voice called out of the heavy panting and breathing as she felt arms wrapped around her protectively, but also like a jail cell to keep her locked there. She tried to squirm out of her mother's arms, but it was hopeless, as they tightly held her in place.

"What were you doing?! I thought I told you to stay out of this." Ariel's voice said as she hugged her daughter tightly against her, wishing it was Harmony. The girl had literally been _in_ the throne room with the Triton, how could they have not known it! And then when they saw her, the speed that tail was propelling her at! And that tail...she'd never known someone to have a sky blue tail. Usually it was a dark navy blue, or a lighter blue like her fathers, but that tail was just so much like the sky!

"I did stay out of it! For most of the day at least...but then I saw Harmony and I tried to keep up with her, but damn, that girl has some speed!" Melody said with wide eyes, and Ariel didn't even feel like reprimanding her for saying 'damn'. She was more worried as too where Harmony was going.

"If Morgana gets her hands on my Triton....keep looking for my granddaughter! We have to find her before she gets to Morgana!" Triton yelled at his guards who immediately stood up straight and went right to searching for the girl. While Triton was distracted momentarily, Attina looked at Melody.

"Where do you think Morgana might be?" She asked in a cool, calm, collected voice that had come from years of taking care of her younger sisters.

"Um....I don't know." Melody said, grinding her teeth together as her Mother grimaced. "But she wouldn't go back to where she was before...too risky for her to get caught." Melody said with a sigh, wishing she could swim faster so she could have caught Harmony.

"Then where.....?" Ariel wondered, but shook her head as she looked down at Melody. "Go back and stay at the palace, okay? Go." Ariel said, releasing Melody from her arms and pushing her daughter towards the palace. The girl snorted and crossed her arms over her chest as Attina's tinkling laugh rang out, knowing that exact expression from seeing it on Ariel's face when she was fourteen too.

"I can _help_. I'm not going." Melody said firmly as it was Ariel turn to grind her teeth together to keep down her temper.

"If you go instead of a month, I'll take off two weeks from your punishment." Ariel said, bargaining with her daughter. The girl's mouth opened, as if she wanted to say something, but then she smartly shut it as an idea formed in her mind.

"Fine." Melody sulked, turning and swimming back to Atlantica, and muttering angrily under her breath as her Aunt Attina laughed at something. Melody knew her mother was watching her intently, making sure she didn't try going anywhere but Atlantica, but once the girl was out of her mother's line of sight, she turned back around and headed in the opposite direction of the search parties.

"Melody child! Where are you going! You're supposed to stay in the palace!" Sebastian said as he swam after the headstrong teen, coming inches in front of her face and she stopped for a moment to look at her crab friend.

"Sebastian, I'm not going to sit around while Harmony get's played the same way I did! I'm going to look for her." Melody stated firmly, as Sebastian saw the fire in her eyes that said she was going to do this with or without him, and that he couldn't stop her.

"Fine. Den I'm coming too." Sebastian said as he crossed her claws against himself as Melody pursed her lips, and finally sighed. If she told him no, he'd tell her Aunts and then she'd be babysat by them all day.

"Alright fine!" Melody said finally, knowing that she'd never get a way around him. Maybe she could ditch him....no, then he'd go back and tell her mother and she'd be grounded for life. "Grab onto my tail." She said, as she felt Sebastian hold on tightly as she started to swim fast, towards Morgana's old lair. Maybe she wasn't there, it was a long shot, but she had to try everything she could.

"_I'm staring out into the sun,  
Trying to hide the pain.  
I'm going to the place where love  
And feeling good don't ever cost a thing.  
And the pain I feel's a different kind of pain._

Harmony sang out, sighing as she sang the last line, looking at the sunset. A whale had generously given her a ride back to Morgana's, which wasn't too far now. Soon, her mind told her, soon you'll be back home, curled up in your own bed, with the sheets you chose, listening to your iPod. Soon.

"_The miles are getting longer, it seems,  
The closer I get to you.  
I've not always been the best sister or __friend__ for you.  
But your pain, it makes true.  
And I don't know why.  
You refuse to give me another try."_

Melody sang out, quietly to herself as Sebastian was swimming behind her and she was still swimming towards Morgana's old lair. Tip and Dash were silent for once behind her, knowing that she needed to sing, to at least feel a bit better. All she hoped was that she wouldn't be too late to save her sister. All she hoped.

"_So I'm going home __**Please don't go 'home'.**__  
Back to the place where I belong, __**I'm sorry I made you feel like you don't belong.  
**__And where one family has always been enough for me. __**Your real family needs you.**__ I'm not running from. __**Don't run from this.**__  
No, I think you got me all wrong. __**Trust me, I mean it when I say I was wrong**__  
I don't regret this life I choosing for me. __**Please stop and consider another possibility.**__  
**But** these **places** and **these **faces **are** getting **old**, So I'm going home. __**But don't go home.  
**__I'm going home. __**Don't go 'home'." **_

(***Note* Melody's words are in black and line 6 is sung together**)

Both Melody and Harmony sang, in sync to each other's melody, and matching the harmonies. They didn't know the other's pain, not nearly half as much, but they knew one thing about it. It was that it hurt, and right now, both of them really wanted a friend.

"_**Be**__ careful what you wish for,  
'Cause you just might get it all.  
You just might get it all,  
And then some you don't want.  
Be careful what you wish for,  
'Cause you just might get it all.  
You just might get it all, __**yeah**__**."** _

They both sang again these lines together, but for different reasons. Melody had wished for Harmony to feel the pain she felt when she saw her kissing Alec....she wanted the girl out of her life. Well, her wishes came true, and now look at what happened. Harmony had always wished for sister, her real family....to live with them, and to be a princess was her fairy tale wish. Well, her wishes came true too, and now look at what happened.

"_Oh, well I'm going home, __**Please don't go 'home'.** __Back to the place where I belong, __**I'm sorry I made you feel like you don't belong.  
**__And where one family has always been enough for me. __**Your real family needs you.**__ I'm not running from. __**Don't run from this.**__  
No, I think you got me all wrong. __**Trust me, I mean it when I say I was wrong**__  
I don't regret this life I choosing for me. __**Please stop and consider another possibility.**__  
**But** these **places **and **these** faces **are** getting **old,  
**So I'm going home. __**But don't go home.  
**__I'm going home. __**Don't go 'home'."**_

"I'm sorry Harmony." Melody whispered out softly, getting to the ice glaciers now, and looking at Morgana's old lair. Sorry I betrayed you, sorry I kicked you when you were down.....sorry that I'm a terrible sister, she thought to herself, tears forming in her eyes as she wiped them away.

"I'm sorry Melody." Harmony whispered out softly, jumping off the whale and into the water as she saw Morgana's place. Sorry I didn't push Alec away fast enough so I didn't hurt you, sorry I'm abandoning you to go back to my home.....sorry that I'm such a terrible sister, she thought to herself, tears forming in her eyes as she wiped them away.

* * *

**The song, as most of you know, is by Chris Daughtry, Home...i sadly do not own it, although i did mess around with some of the lyrics to make it fit better. I was trying to think of a good song for them to sing, and then i was just listening to this and i was like 'WOW! It totally fits!' i mean, if you slow down the tempo to make it a bit sadder because of the girls predicaments, but you know. How did you like this chapter? Next one (sorry!) is going to focus mostly on Ariel, and just a little bit of Melody, but it will be short, promise! Maybe i can post it tonight...hmm, i'll try! **

**By now, if you're keeping up with my little author notes, you should know i want you to review and all that, okay? Good news to Jas though, next chapter is because you brought this to my attention, so congrats to you!**

**Special thanks time: To all my friends, whether you go to school with me or not, you guys are really the inspirational spark i need to start writing, so thanks. You know who you are. **

**TurnerChild: :D thanks for reviewing so much, and keeping up to date with this story! I'm so glad your loving it! Can't wait till i see yours! **

**MermaidRaven: I know you haven't reviewed in awhile like you said, but when you do it definitely makes me feel happy to know you like my story!**

**Jas: Without that constructive criticism i wouldn't have had a next chapter, so pat yourself on the back! **

**And to any others that read my story and just fall in love with it, even if you don't review, it makes me glad that you enjoy reading this as much as i enjoy writing this! **

**Ta ta for now kiddies! Lemme see if i can squeeze in another chapter or two for tonight!**


	27. Chapter 27

"Oh Harmony." Ariel whispered to herself as she ran her hands over a pipe that when she was only sixteen had believed it made music. Somehow between all that was melted and destroyed in her grotto, the pipe had been spared. Ariel closed her eyes, absorbing this and the memories of how much trouble such a small object brought.

If she hadn't gone exploring that day she wouldn't have seen Scuttle, then Flounder wouldn't have accidently said she'd been on the surface, then she wouldn't have swam to her grotto for the comfort of her _human_ objects, and then Sebastian would never had followed and she'd never seen Eric. And if see had never seen Eric, she wouldn't have ever fallen in love with him and saved him from drowning....and Sebastian would never had accidently said she'd saved a human's life and she had a grotto, then Daddy would never had destroyed her grotto, making her run to Ursula to become human, or crash the wedding that she had magically made Eric fall into a spell so he'd marry her...and then she never would have seen Eric after the battle, and Daddy would have never made her human. Funny how such a small object created the biggest impact on her life.

Eric, oh how much she missed him! It had only been two days now that the sun was setting, but two days away from him was like an eternity to Ariel. Closing her eyes again, her mind took her back to the last memory of him her mind had.

_"Melody, she is home." Eric's voice said as Ariel suddenly found herself back in his embrace, his arm around, protectively holding her next to him. _

_"No, I mean, her other home. The one with her adopted family, that's where she wants to be." Melody said softly, the wind taking her words to the adults' ears as Ariel stiffened next to her husband. Oh. _That_ home. Ariel sighed heavily then, why was it so hard for Harmony to adjust to a new home and life? Isn't that what every teen wanted, to suddenly find themselves the daughter of a new family? A _royal_ family to be exact?_

_"I'm going to join the search parties Ariel; she can't be too far away." Triton said to his youngest daughter, as Ariel felt Eric squeeze her hand because she knew what he wanted her to do. She didn't want to leave him on land, but she knew the seas like the back of her hand, she'd be able to find Harmony. _

_"Ariel, go with him. You know the seas....you found Melody, and now you have to find Harmony." Eric said, trying hard not to show her the pain it caused him when he had to tell her to become a mermaid again. He knew she loved him unconditionally, but there was always that possibility that her childhood home made her fall in love with it again, and stay as a mermaid for the rest of her life, while Eric stayed human on land. _

_"You'll be able to do this Ariel." Triton said, trying to boost his daughter's confidence, whom he knew was probably extremely low thanks to the fact that her other daughter, had swum away from home. _

_"I know I can Daddy." Ariel said closing her eyes and leaning her head against his chest, taking in the last few seconds she'd spend with Eric. She wanted to remember them so that when she was searching for Harmony, she could remember his warmth. _

_"I'll go to." Melody's soft voice broke the silence as Ariel's eyes reopened extremely fast and her let her head turn to her daughter. _

_"It's too dangerous Melody. Stay on land and look for Harmony with your father." Ariel said, but she knew what was coming. She wanted to convince Melody not to come, but the girl had a stubborn will and would refuse to die down when she had a perfectly good reason. _

_"I know what Morgana will do Mother. I know how she'll get Harmony's trust, and how she'll convince her subtlety that we're the problem, that we're trying to hurt her, instead of the other way around. Besides, I created the problem; I should at least help fix it." Melody answered as she saw her father stare her down with one of those expressions that she couldn't tell if it was yes or no. _

_"Ariel, she has a point." Triton offered the information to his daughter and he could only hope she would understand that Melody should come into the sea to help search for Harmony because she could help out a lot. _

_"Daddy---" Ariel started, but she was cut off by Eric, which was extremely unusual. _

_"Ariel, listen to your father and your daughter. Melody can _help_, and as long as she", here Eric looked up to his daughter to give her a warning expression. "_stays_ with you, we both know she'll be safe." He didn't want Melody to go with Ariel. He wanted to drive his ship back to the palace and make her stay there until this was all over. But his daughter was too much like her mother, and she'd never agree to such measures. And she would find a way to escape anyway, and then they'd have _two_ missing daughters, instead of _one_. _

_"Fine." Ariel admitted, sighing heavily, but then she turned to her daughter with warning written all over her face. "But if you pull any of your stunts, I swear Melody I will take you right back home and make sure you are kept there. Agreed?" Ariel said, and Melody nodded, her blue eyes, even in the moonlight, shining visibly. _

_"Be good." Eric warned, as he hugged Melody against him tightly for a moment, before she winked and jumped off of the ship. As a thirteenth birthday present, Triton had some of his Triton's magic go into her locket, so that whenever she wanted, she could be a mermaid....that is, if she was in water, of course. _

_Ariel on the other hand had told her father that she didn't want to be a mermaid, even if it was only for a few minutes. She had said that her heart belonged on land, and that legs were all she needed to feel complete. That had warmed Eric's heart fully. _

_Melody's head popped out of the water, as she was beside her Grandfather, although he was at least six feet in the air on a wave. Her arms crossed against her sea shells as she looked up at her mother expectantly, wondering if she'd go through with this or not. _

_"Be safe my love." Eric whispered into Ariel's ear, as he pressed his mouth against hers as a goodbye kiss. No, not goodbye. Never goodbye, only see you later. He felt the electricity and Ariel could feel it too as their mouth's touched, taking them back through so much history together that she couldn't even begin to know words to describe it. But breathing was a necessity, and finally, with a heavy heart, she pulled away from him. _

_"I love you." She whispered, the still night not masking the pain of leaving him, if only for a few days in her voice. _

_"And I love you too, my little mermaid." Eric whispered back, gently pushing back a lock of her red hair, before helping her up onto the rail of the ship. How many times, during those first few times Ariel went sailing with him, had he pulled her away from the rails, for fear of her falling and drowning? How many times had she almost fallen over, saved only by his quick movements as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back in, letting her embrace him for once again, helping her? _

_With a small nod to her father, and a wistful look to her husband behind her, Ariel felt herself lifted into the air by the magic of the Triton. Her legs became one, her feet making way for fins as her dress became her purple shells once again, and then she was back in the sea, coming back up to the surface only to see her daughter's disgusted expression of watching her parents kiss and Triton's soft knowing expression of what that felt like._

_As her father and daughter went under the water, Ariel was about to follow, when on impulse, she turned around and gave a gentle smile Eric an awkward wave, which he musingly returned back. _

Ariel was brought back into the present when she felt her stomach rumble. How long had it been since she ate? Dinner....two days ago? Wow, maybe Attina was right. She should take it easy for at least a little while, eat something....but she pushed those thoughts aside as hastily as they'd come, and then turned to her grotto once again, reliving the adventures the melted, smashed, or even helplessly broken, things held.

"You know, I never did get to formally apologize for destroying your...._collection_." Triton's voice sounded behind her as Ariel, startled, dropped the pipe and whirled around.

"You didn't have to. I knew it when you gave me legs that you finally understood." Ariel said to her father, not looking up at his eyes as her slender fingers traced the porcelain dancing couple, which was melted so much that if she hadn't looked at it so much during her youth, she'd never have known what it was.

"Still, it makes me feel so bad that I did this to you." Triton sighed as he let his hand show what he meant. "I'm sorry Ariel." He said, and although it was years and years late, and a million things had gone wrong because he'd destroyed such a precious thing to his daughter, Ariel still managed a small smile as she looked up at her father.

"I accepted my legs as your apology to me Daddy long ago, but if this makes you feel better, than I forgive you. And I'm sorry too." Ariel said softly, her fingers now tracing the smashed remained of what used to be a globe.

"For what?" Triton asked with raised brows, uncertainty ringing through his voice. If she was apologizing for one of the antics she pulled that he didn't know about....well he wanted to keep it that way.

"For everything." Ariel sighed as she drummed her fingers again the ripped, charred, and helplessly abused painting of a fire that had once held her imagination in it. "For never looking back once I was human. I didn't realize until Harmony how much it must hurt to lose something you thought was your world." Ariel murmured. Then she whirled around and it was her turn to raise her brows as her father chuckled.

"You remind me so much of your mother, did I ever tell you that?" Triton wondered, with a soft smile remembering Athena. "She had been so imaginative, so unafraid to show what she thought, a dreamer, just like you. She had wanted peace between the human and merworld....she'd be glad that her little Ariel was able to do that." Triton said softly as Ariel smiled a little, trying to picture her mother. She knew her mother had red hair, like hers, and that she had green eyes and a blue tail...but talking about their mother had been like voodoo to her and her sister, something they all feared and never spoke up.....the elephant in the room, Eric would say.

"And all I had to do was risk my father's anger and swim away from home for three days. Nothing to it." Ariel said with a shaky laugh to Triton's chuckle at her weak joke. "Besides, at least you finally realized through all of it that I wasn't a little girl anymore." Ariel said with a half wistful smile as he swam over to her, and as if she was still a girl, he hugged her tightly.

"No matter what Ariel, you'll always be my baby girl." Triton said softly. Sure, Ariel might have a husband, two teenage daughters, and she might live as a human on land. But none of that mattered to Ariel or Triton as both their eyes filled with tears at the small moment.

* * *

**Okay, so i know i said short and simple...but i got to writing and i couldn't stop. I actually started crying at the ending because i thought it was really sweet! Okay, and i know i promised Melody in this chapter....but she just didn't fit in, so i just totally focused on Ariel and Triton, a father daughter moment that they rarely have. **

**REVIEW! **

**Luv all of u lots!**


	28. Chapter 28

"Morgana is here! I knew it! Go back to Atlantica Sebastian and tell everyone!" Melody yelled whispered as she saw Harmony enter the ice fortress.

"You're not getting rid of me that easily young lady." Sebastian said as he crossed his claws over his shell. He wasn't going to let a fourteen year old girl go into a sea witches lair all alone.

"But Sebastian, Mom will only lock me up in the palace with my Aunts if _I_ go back! She won't listen to _me_, but she'll listen to you! That's why you have to go back and tell Grandfather and Mom!" Melody said her heart beating fast as Harmony disappeared from her sight. Morgana could get the Triton any minute now from Harmony; Melody had to get there fast to tell her she was making a big mistake.

"Don't worry Sebastian, we'll go with her." Dash said to the crab, knowing Melody was right. She created the problem, so her mother would only brush her off; that's why Sebastian had to go back and tell everyone!

"Yeah! If we beat that old sea witch before, she stands no chance against us now!" Tip said, showing off his karate moves. Melody stifled a laugh as he fell over, flat on his face and then turned back to Sebastian with a pleading face and her hands clasped together for the effect.

"Fine, I'll go tell your mother and the sea king." Sebastian admitted reluctantly, as he was swept up in hug.

"Thank you Sebastian!" Melody said with a smile. Sebastian couldn't help it, the girl was so much like her mother before her that he smiled too.

"Of course child." He answered, jumping back into the water with a splash and heading back towards Atlantica, as fast as he could swim. The sea king, Ariel, Eric, all of them had to know where Morgana was....and where the Triton was too.

"Oh sweetheart, I was so worried!" Morgana said in a silky sweet voice that stopped Harmony short. That super sweet voice....where had she heard it before? "Now, give me my Triton...." Morgana said, extending a hand towards the girl, who backed up a moment, eye brows furrowed. Then a knowing expression dawned on her face, as she stared at Morgana, eyes narrowing.

"I used that exact same voice when I put on a 'good girl' act with my parents, and I want something really bad." The girl said, staring hard at Morgana. "You never did explain why _you_ didn't live in Atlantica....why you were all alone out here." She said carefully as a look of faux confusion came over Morgana's features.

"Me? Well, I just like the seclusion, away from all the hustle and bustle. Now, hand me my Triton dear so I can send you back home...." Morgana said, but she knew she was busted by the disbelieving look the girl gave her. Damn, how'd she get so smart?

"Don't lie to me." Harmony hissed between her teeth. "I'm fourteen, not four." Harmony said as she pointed the Triton directly at Morgana, who once again tried to be sweet and give the girl this act. If this didn't start working soon she'd have to resort to force.

"Harmony! Don't give it to her!" Melody yelled at the top of her lungs, barreling into her sister. Harmony's face wasn't one of shock like Melody thought it would be, it was more....fury.

"When I say the phrase, 'go to hell', I meant it literally." Harmony hissed, her voice practically dripping venom from it. Melody gulped and winced at her sister's voice, before straightening up and reaching out for her shoulder. The girl moved so that she was away from Melody, and closer to Morgana.

"Harmony, listen to me. Don't give her the Triton. She's lying to you, I swear it!" Melody said, trying to reach out and touch to grab the Triton, but the girl skillfully avoided her hand.

"Just like you swore I was a slut to a room full of people?! Or when you swore you'd never tell about my arms!" Harmony shouted, fury making her vision all blurry. Or was it? Somehow she didn't seem to look under water quite as well as she had when she first became a mermaid.

"Harmony, I was wrong to do that to you, I'm sorry!" Melody desperately said, but she knew that look in her sister's eyes. It was the exact same one she had when she handed Morgana the Triton two years before.

"My name is Kathy." It was a simple line, coming from the mouth of Harmony/Kathy or whoever she might be. Her hand slowly ungripped the Triton, and she handed it to Morgana, her face full of fury and pain.

And as Morgana's fingers wrapped around the Triton, the power she felt coursing through her was amazing.

* * *

**OOOh! Getting down to the wire now! Yay! So, how'd ya like it?**

***Notes* Harmony hands Morgana the Triton because Melody makes her so furious that she can't think straight. All she can think about it 'get revenge on the bitch who hurt me'. I mean, we've all felt like that at times....or at least...i hope you have 'cuz then i'm all alone. **

**Just wondering, if i ended the story right here and never wrote to this again, how MAD would you be? No seriously, i want to know! Y? Cuz....i sorta am. Sorry, but i just think it's good to keep you thinking and work on a few other stories right now....i don't even think i'll ever return to this story...it's just more of a chore for me now instead of a fun activity.  
**

**Sorry! :*(**


	29. Chapter 29

"Ah ha ha ha ha ha!" Morgana's evil laugh rang out as she jumped up high with the Triton clenched in her hand, green electricity coursing through her body and through the Triton which she held triumphantly.

"Oh shit." Both Melody and Harmony said, staring at Morgana. Melody grimaced and Harmony just looked shell shocked at what was happening. From what she remembered of her Saturday morning cartoons, if someone is laughing like that and has something green and glowing above their heads, yeah, it's never a good thing.

"Now, let's try this again, shall we?" Morgana laughed, as she grabbed Melody with her tentacles holding her there. The little mermaid wasn't going to ruin her domination plans _this_ time. "I rule the oceans!" Morgana laughed again, but she sharply turned her head when she heard a sneer coming from her tentacles.

"No you don't! My grandfather does, you just wish you could! I beat you once Morgana and I can do it again!" Melody said triumphantly, holding her head high as her mouth was clamped shut by a tentacle. Morgana came up next to her, eyes narrowing as she pointed the Triton right at her.

"_You_ can't do anything _sweetheart_! I'll make sure that you don't ruin my plans **this** time!" Morgana said with a hard laugh to Melody, who in turn bit down as hard as she could on Morgana's tentacle. "OW! I'll take care of you right now then if that's what you want!" Morgana said as the Triton was right under Melody chin and the girl started shaking from fear. She was going to die. Well, at least she had a cool story for how it happened.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Something hard was smashed against Morgana's skull as she looked down away from Melody to see Harmony right there, fuming. "You promised me that you would zap me back home! Not that you would kill my sister!" Harmony stated out, as she then yelped and narrowly missed a zap of lightning or whatever that was shot at her. Undertow merely watched a smirk on his face for how this was turning out.

"I can't have the both of you ruining my plans, now can I?" Morgana said to herself mostly, as both girls hissed from their spots. Harmony swam behind Morgana and started trying to pull Melody out from her tentacles with Tip and Dash's help. Morgana realized this and laughed again at how much effort they were putting in, when nothing was happening. "We can't have none of that, now can we?" She laughed again, taking Harmony in between her tentacles, and throwing both girls into the cave, with Tip and Dash right on their tales.

"You bitch. You tricked me!" Harmony said as she was up from the floor and right by the small hole that Morgana was at, just to gloat at them.

"Said the thief to the liar! Besides, _you_ were the one who believed what I said little girl." Morgana cackled as Harmony's furious expression turned into of guilt.

"I'll leave a small hole so you can both watch as I destroy your family, thanks to you!" Morgana gloated, as both girls looked down at the floor of the cave, biting their lips in remorse for their mistakes. "Oh and Harmony dear? Your time as a mermaid is almost up." Morgana said with a malicious grin, leaving as she said a small hole so the girls could see how she destroyed everyone they loved dearly. "Undertow, guard here!" She barked out to the shark, who with a lazy smirk did just that. "Don't let them out under **any** circumstances. I've got 7 seas that need to be taken over!" Morgana cackled again, leaving the hole and creating for herself a throne like structure made of ice, high it the air, away from the water to show her power.

"How are we going to get out of here?!" Tip wondered as Dash, and Harmony tried to smash themselves to escape the cave.

"We can't, the ice is too thick." Melody said, biting her lip from her mistake. All of this from calling her sister a slut, it was all her fault. It was all her fault.

"'Can't' is for quitters!" Harmony stated, turning to face Melody full on. "I may have quit trying in math class, I may have quit ballet, I may have quit so many pointless school related things that will never hold any meaning for me as an adult, but I won't quit trying to save my life!" Harmony said angrily, pushing herself around the wall again, but not managing to break it. There was only that small hole, and they couldn't see anything out of it because Undertow was guarding the cave.

"Harmony, there's nothing we can do! All we can hope for is that Grandfather can get his Triton back and that we can bust out of here by the time your spell wears off." Melody said glumly, as Dash and Tip sat by her on the cave floor. But Harmony wasn't a quitter, at least when she had to save her life she wasn't. Still furious, she swam to the back of the cave, searching for anything she could use to break that shield of ice.

"_**I **_am the ruler of the seas now!" Morgana said to the sky, loving the new power the Triton gave her. That's when she spotted a large ship and in the lead a chariot with the crab, Triton, and that redheaded Ariel.

"Surrender my granddaughters!" Triton called out to Morgana, but he knew she wouldn't do such a thing. She was too evil and selfish to think of doing such a thing, but he had to try.

"Ha! Not in a million years Triton!" Morgana laughed, her head thrown back for a moment. She saw how there was there were other mermaids with Triton....ah, the seven--no six--sea princesses all around Ariel who had Eric by her side as he had set the anchor for his ship and his eyes were narrowed at Morgana. Laughing again, Morgana pointed her Triton at them all, and in moments, they were bowing to her.

"Idiots! You think you can defeat me?! I RULE THE SEAS NOW! BOW DOWN TO **MY **POWER!!" Morgana said furiously, as they were all bowing, conjuring up a storm around her, letting the lightning and the thunder be a warning not to test her power. She was the ruler now, not them, she'd win this battle, and she'd be in control of the seven seas until she died!

"We're screwed." Andrina muttered under her breath as her eyes were still focused on that bitch Morgana, and she was bowing along with the rest of her sisters.

"Don't say that Andrina. We'll find a way out of this." Arista said confidently, although even her confidence was fading fast. Honestly, she was being forced to bow down to an evil sea witch, who could at any moment decide she didn't like their faces and blow them up with the Triton.

"Well, we better do it soon." Adella said, and she didn't have to explain what she meant by that sentence because she knew everyone knew what she meant.

"Shut up Adella. We'll find a way out of this, like Arista said." Aquata said to her sister, trying to make her tone light and almost joking, although she knew that the situation was far from it. They had decided to stick with Ariel through this, because they were her sisters, and sisters were there for each other when their youngest sister's teenage daughter's get taken hostage by an evil sea witch.

"Aquata's right." Alana said wishing that it didn't hurt her so much to be bowing down to this bitch in front of them. Somehow, they'd make it through this...they would just have to!

"Well, I still don't see how." Andrina pointed out unhelpfully. She wasn't mad at her sisters, she was just angry that they had come along and that the sea witch was trying to break them.

"Andrina." Attina's sharp voice was one they all knew from childhood, and Andrina immediately shut her mouth, knowing this wasn't the time.

"I'm so sorry I dragged you all in this." Ariel's broken voice beside them finally said, after hearing her sister's argue.

"You didn't drag us into this Ariel." Adella said softly, to ease her sister's pain.

"Yes I did." Ariel's voice was cracked as she said that, and now more than ever did her sister's wish that they weren't bowing down to an evil sea witch, so that they could hug her and tell her that it wasn't her fault.

"Ariel, come on. We've been in worse scrapes than this." Attina said, trying to help her younger sister out, but she knew it was useless when she heard a soft sob escape her lips, and then Eric's soft murmuring to her.

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**Omg, you actually believed i wasn't going to write anymore?! Are you for real?! Of course i am! I might even have this finished by tonight, who know's? Ha ha, all of you who believed me are stupid. **

**Okay, so you know, do that thing, that starts with an R....um....what's it called....oh yeah! RE-Freaking-VIEW!**


	30. Chapter 30

"I have an idea!" Harmony's voice finally yelled triumphantly, as her vision under the water was now nearly all gone back to her human vision under it. The spell was wearing off, she'd be a human in minutes now. Melody, Tip, and Dash perked up at the sound of Harmony's voice, and she leaned in closely to them, her voice low so that Undertow couldn't hear it.

"When I want to get my brother mad, I annoy him so much that he wants to kill me. If I start annoying Undertow that same way, he'll get mad and break through the wall!" Harmony said, and Tip looked at her like she was crazy.

"That's your plan? Annoy a HUGE shark?! Oh yeah kid, great plan." He snorted, and Melody nodded her head to him.

"He's right Harmony. It will never work. We're doomed." Melody said, repressing the sob in her chest.

"You only say that because for the past twelve years you haven't had a sibling, but I have. Trust me, it will work." Harmony said, getting up from the floor and making her way to the little hole that Undertow was right in front of. Taking a deep breath, she started.

"Hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey---"

"WHAT?!" Undertow finally yelled, annoyed by the girl repeating his name. Harmony only grinned, and kept going.

"Hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, he---" Harmony was once again cut off by the fury of the shark.

"What do you want?!" Undertow bellowed, causing a full smile to form on Harmony's lips. She was already feeling it, her tail was already starting to tingle. She had only seconds to do this now.

"Hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow---"

"If you don't shut up I swear I will kill you myself!" Undertow yelled out, and Harmony winced as she felt pain start shooting up her tail. Barely seconds now, this would have to work!

"Hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow, hey Undertow---" Harmony was cut off by a furious yell, and she saw through the little hole that Undertow was backing up, ready to smash the ice and eat her.

"Hey Undertow, hey Undertow---" Harmony said, and this time she was cut off by a green swirl taking control of her tail, and her legs reforming. That's when she heard the ice smash and as she started kicking her legs to keep her from falling in the water, she saw Undertow's entire mouth....not full of teeth as they had been smashed out from the impact of smashing the ice. With a grin to herself, Harmony swam back up to the surface, greeted by a gust of air straight to her lungs.

"That was amazing!" Tip said, as he swam up to the surface next to Harmony who grinned at him, and jumped onto the ice, next to Morgana's huge shell seat and her shelves was her bag. Slinging it over one shoulder like usual, she didn't really know what she was going to do with it, but she knew she had to do something. Then she started running, her jeans and converse soaking wet, but she didn't care. Her sweatshirt was heavy with water and made her colder than she already was, but she still didn't care as Melody swam by her running feet.

"What are you doing?!" Melody asked, as she saw Harmony look up at the pointy ice that led up to Morgana's chair. She really wasn't that original, Melody thought to herself about Morgana, a small smirk coming into her face.

"I'm going to fix this." Harmony said, as she grabbed the hair band from her arm and tied back her red hair. This was her battle with the bitch now, not her family's.

"Harmony, don't!" Melody yelled out as she saw her sister start climbing, her wet shoes and clothing making it difficult for her. Melody's yell caught the attention of Morgana though, as she looked down at the escaped princess. With a laugh to herself, she pointed the Triton at the girl to make her start bowing.

"You really are more trouble than your worth, you know that?" Morgana laughed as she saw the teen helplessly bow down to her, along with that walrus and penguin friend she had.

"I'm a big brave girl, I'm a big....brave....girl!" Harmony said, a she narrowly missed getting hit in the ribs but one of those pointy ice things. She kept repeating the line over and over, like she had when she was a little girl and she had to climb the highest tree in the park. She could do this, with her backpack on her back, she could do this.

Jumping off of the moving ice thing she was on, she lunged for the one next to it, but overshot and hit with a bang an ice thing that was just rising. She felt it, her ribs breaking from the impact, and she felt her chest feel constricted with the sobs that she wasn't letting rise. She had to do this....she had to make it. Sucking up the pain and just letting silent tears roll down her face, she jumped to the next one.

Her palms were scraped raw with fresh blood all around them, and she kept slipping because of her wet converse. Usually when she slipped, she only landed on her rear and then quickly grasped the moving ice, but one of the times she wasn't fast enough and the ice moved before she could grasp it, making her hit her head extremely hard against the back. She suddenly felt dizzy, as if the world was hanging on a thread, but she pushed past that feeling and kept going, even if her head pounded and she knew there was blood coming from an open wound in the back of it.

Finally, she was close enough to jump onto the same ice platform Morgana was on, and even though she knew she would probably be killed by the woman for this, she had to at least try. Harmony took the book bag off of her right shoulder, and with her right hand she swung it around so that it would hit Morgana. It didn't. Instead, it narrowly missed her and headed straight back....to her ribs. That's when her hand flew to her mouth at how much that hurt, and tears that somehow she had left over formed in her eyes. But biting her lip, she still swung her bag over her shoulder and did plan B.

Planting both her feet firmly together behind the yelling woman who was still shooting rays out of the Triton, she jumped for the thing, and grabbed it out of her grasp, landing only a few feet away from her on her left arm with a CRACK! Pain shot up her left arm immediately, but clenching her fist in her right hand, tightly so she didn't cry, even though she knew that's what she really wanted to do, she gripped the Triton with her left fingers, almost yelping at the pain it took to do that.

"What are you doing shrimp?!" Morgana asked, her tentacles surrounding her and making her seem scarier than she actually was. Harmony breathed in a huge gulp of air, and put her right hand on the Triton too, pointing it at Morgana. "Ha! You don't even know how to use that thing _princess_." Morgana hissed, and Harmony's eyes grew wide and furious.

"MY. NAME. IS. HARMONY!" She screamed in full fury, and the Triton started to glow in her hands. Morgana backed up a little scared of what this girl was capable of. And underage girl using the most powerful tool in all of Atlantica with no idea how to use it, but she was furious....oh god!

"No one hurts my family." Harmony hissed, as she closed her eyes from the power of the Triton, and then, she felt something leave the Triton. Like a giant ball of lightning just leave it, but she couldn't be too sure because her eyes were closed. She heard Morgana's scream.....and she opened one eye to look up. Nothing was there.

Shaking her head and just having it scream in pain, she somehow managed to look down and see everyone staring up at her, in amazement. She almost smiled, if it weren't for the screaming pain from her ribs, the screaming pain in her head, and the screaming pain in her arm.

"Catch." She managed to yell out, letting her left hand slip off the Triton so she could throw it with her right hand down. That's when the ice platform broke, and all the ice around it started breaking. She fell.

In cartoons, they always show that your life flashes before your eyes when your going to die....cartoons, for once, had gotten something right.

Harmony saw a pigtailed redhead girl, who must have been three running across an open field in the night, her hands trying to catching the firefly before her as she laughed. She saw that little girl suddenly get at least two years older and a door opened as her mouth moved to say, Trick or Treat, her costume a princess. She saw that girl grow again, now she was seven and she was on her brother's shoulders in the pool, giggling as she clutched onto his head tightly so she didn't fall off and into the water. Now the girl was nine, and she was watching with wide, scared eyes the sign that spelled out 'Welcome to Camp!', and she saw how the girl's brother reached over in the bus to tell her that it was alright. The girl transformed into a eleven year old, her first day of Middle School. She stepped out of the car, cluctching her bookbag to her flat chest as her brother lead her to her homeroom. Now, the girl was at her present age and she saw how her brother once again let her get on his shoulders in the pool and she giggled, clutching his head as to not fall in the water, just as she'd done years earlier.

She could have screamed as she was falling or when she saw her life flash before her eyes, hell, she did hear screams and shouts as she did....but the pain just hurt so much....and the next thing she felt was hitting the ground and a crack sound from somewhere in her body. Where? Who knew. She felt falling ice stabbing her in different places....but she couldn't breathe. Somehow her hand managed to crawl from the floor as her eyes were still closed and reach for her inhaler, which was in her now bloody jeans pocket. She pressed the thing weakly to her mouth....and then she was breathing again, but just barely. Everything hurt so much! The next thing she knew ice fell on her face, blood surrounded her vision.

Most people die with the music still unplayed their hearts....that's the saddest death of them all.

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**Are you crying as much as i am?! Oh god, i think i'm a bit too attached to Harmony, but i can't help it! She was so young! Only thirteen....she destroyed her life to save her families...but why did she have to die?! I'm the author and i'm crying....oh god, no funny stuff this author note....just...go too the next chapter to find out how her family deals with the grief....because i just don't think i can do this anymore!**


	31. Chapter 31

"H-Harmony?" Ariel didn't think she could believe this was her daughter as Eric handed her limp body back to Ariel. Was this really her daughter? This...._body_?

There was a nasty gash on her forehead and the girl's bottom lip jutted out with more blood than was probably normal, and there was a small split in it. Her right eye was swollen blood, still fresh it seemed all around it. She also had a scratch that looked pretty awful going through her left eye, and there was blood coming from the scratch. Her left arm was twisted at an abnormal angle, and her right ankle was completely shattered it seemed. Ariel put her hand to support her daughter's head, she felt a wet substance slip onto her hand. Blood. Ice had cut at the girl's clothes, it seemed, cutting the skin and leaving the clothes bloody and torn. That's when Ariel noticed she wasn't breathing.

"Eric...she's not breathing." Ariel said in a voice that can't even be counted as a whisper, for it was that low. Eric looked from his daughter, to Ariel, back to his daughter, and then his eyes focused only on Ariel, as he bit his lip and nodded, making her eyes go wide. "No. No, she can't be dead." Ariel finally said after a moment, tears filling her eyes as she started to sob. "No.....no....no..."

She sobbed as her heart broke, and her sister's held her tightly, as they had when they found out that their mother had died. Triton's eyes were filled with pain, no tears, but a pain that one could only have seen after he lost his Athena. Eric was more or less just sitting there, staring at his now dead daughter, tears in his eyes. Sebastian looked at the girl and just shook his head, not believing that Ariel could have lost her Harmony. Tip and Dash were in shock, but their faces were full of pain and sympathy for the girl who had no chance. Melody bit back sobs as she stared at the outcome of what she had done to her sister.

She'd killed her. Because of petty jealousy, her sister was now dead. The only sister she'd ever known...her twin who'd barely been back in their lives, or not even a week now.....was dead. No. It just hurt too much to be true.

Ariel could literally feel her heart breaking as she dared look again at the mangled body of her oldest twin daughter. Thirteen. She hadn't even lived a full life yet, she'd never accomplish her dreams. So young...barely a teenager....and she was dead. Ariel supposed it made it easier on her that she hadn't raised Harmony throughout her childhood, but that made her sob harder into Attina's shoulder, as her sisters tried to calm her down. They couldn't believe that this girl had died.....this young teenager who would never become an adult....she was just gone.

Melody stared at her sister again hard, her eyes tracing ever part of her torn skin and body and her eyes stopped short when she saw the girl's bloody fingers have something in her hand. With gentle care, although no one noticed her, she reached over and took the girl's fingers apart to reveal....a what? Frowning, Melody picked up the bloody....whatever this was and brought it up to her eyes to read. _Inhaler_, this thing was called, an asthma inhaler? Asthma? Oh! There....written directions on here! It read, in poor handwriting:

"Put inhaler to mouth if I'm not breathing, and press down. -Kathy"

Kathy.....oh! _Harmony_! In case if she wasn't breathing....they still had a chance! Melody put the inhaler to Harmony's mouth, though none still paid her attention, and pressed down on the thing once to see if it would make her sister live. Oh please, please, please, let her live! I'm sorry for what I did to you Harmony, just please live! I'll do anything you want if you live! Please, Melody said in her mind, hoping that this would work.

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**Oh man, by a raise of reviews, who would find out where i live and murder me if i stopped the story right there and never wrote again? Please, tell me what you'd do to me in your reviews, that might make me smile. **


	32. Chapter 32

Harmony started coughing up blood as everyone had their head turn to her in amazement and shock, and Melody grinned as she pressed down on the thing again, to have her sister still live. Harmony weakly with her left hand, pushed Melody's hand off her inhaler as she pressed it down herself, breathing in and out, although air hurt her ribs.

And her friends had told her putting directions on her inhaler was stupid, pssht, now look. It saved her life. Although, how Melody was able to read her handwriting, she had no clue, but no she was just grateful that she was still alive. Then she felt the pain.

"Fuckershitties. It hurts like hell." She weakly groaned out, every part in her body on fire basically. Her eyes were probably the only part of her that didn't hurt...because her hair definitely did. Or was that her head? Who knew.

"H-Harmony!" Ariel cried out finally, hugging the girl against her tightly, as Eric hugged the both of them too. "I thought you were gone....oh Harmony." Ariel said in a whispered voice, tears rolling down her eyes still.

"Um...guys?" Harmony weakly called out, as she closed her eyes and grimaced as a fresh wave of pain came right to her. "I broke my ribs....so can you like, let go? You're hurting me." She asked in a small voice, eyes and teeth clenched tightly to keep from crying. Only babies cried Kat, her mind told her, and for once, she was grateful for that stupid voice in her head.

"Oh!" Eric and Ariel both said as they released their hold on Harmony and laid her back in the lap of Ariel's tail. The girl gave a weak laugh for a moment, but then cut it off as a wave of pain hit her again.

"Oh Harmony....we thought you were gone for sure." Eric murmured as he cupped her face in his hand at the girl gave a weak laugh that carried across the ice.

"Don't you guys know anything?" Harmony asked aloud, as the adults tried to keep straight faces, and Melody looked bewildered.

"What do you mean sweetie?" Ariel asked softly, stroking the girl's hair. One minute she was dead...the next she wasn't! She'd have to ask her daughter about how that worked.

"In kids books....cartoons....everything. Good always triumphs over evil. Duh." Harmony said in a voice no louder than a whisper, but it still carried across the ice to everyone who had to smile. She was right of course....good always did win. But in this case....good might have won, but not without a price.

"I'm glad you know that." Triton started with a smile on his face as the girl slowly turned her head to look at him with a half hearted/ pained smile.

"Sorry 'bout stealing that thing." Harmony said softly, knowing he knew what she meant by 'thing'. "The bitch told me if I got it for her...she'd send me back home." Harmony said, shutting her eyes tightly as Melody giggled at finding a way to make this into a sex joke, and Harmony smiled at her, knowing exactly what she was thinking.

"Do you really miss your old home that much?" Attina wondered as she looked at her niece with a curious expression, and then to her father with question in her eyes.

"Of course I did." Harmony said softly, a weak laugh of hers still carrying across the ice.

"Did?" Triton wondered, as Harmony clenched her right fist tightly so she didn't scream as her left arm slightly moved.

"Do." Harmony said a little firmer, correcting herself from previous, but her voice still stayed soft. "This is might be my real home....but I still miss other parents....my best friends.....and even my brother. It kind of hurts when you lose all of that in one hour." Harmony said softly, as a look passed through all of the adults at Harmony's words. But they didn't speak what knew aloud, no, instead they focused on Harmony.

"Harmony, sleep. We'll get you back home in no time, okay? Just sleep." Ariel said softly, wanting to eliminate her outward and inward pain for at least a little while. Harmony only looked at Melody instead, and a small, pained grin came on her face.

"Truce?" She wondered softly, and Melody laughed and playfully, but extremely gently, knocked on her sister's head.

"I think you hit your head pretty hard Harmony. If _we_ make a truce, what do you think will happen?" Melody asked in a light tone to her sisters weak and pained laugh.

"The world will collapse and we'll all go to hell. Oh wait, no, just you and me will." Harmony said with another weak laugh before she let the pain finally overwhelm her and make her pass out.

"Wouldn't have it any other way sis." Melody whispered, so soft she knew only her twin would be able to hear it. And she likes to think she did for then a small smile came on her torn and mangled face.

"We have to get her back to the palace now before she loses anymore blood." Ariel said softly, her words directed to Eric and to her father. Eric didn't have to even say a word to know what Ariel meant by that, and he gently look her in his arms as Triton transformed her back into a human, her normal dress back on.

"See you soon, okay?" Ariel said to her sister's as she hugged them goodbye.

"Don't do anything stupid on land, okay Ariel?" Attina said with a grin to her sister's roll of the eyes.

"I'm not sixteen Attina." She answered, as she was playfully pushed by Adrina.

"Yet, somehow you act the exact same as you did back then." Adrina said with a smile to her youngest sister, hugging her tightly before letting Adella get a turn.

"I do not." Ariel answered, rolling her eyes again at her sisters, who in turn laughed.

"Do too." They said in sync, before looking at each other and bursting out laughing, as though they were still girls, and Ariel laughed along with them before getting up to hug her father.

"Goodbye Daddy." Ariel said, as she heard Triton's chuckle and he hugged her tightly. No words needed be spoken, the father daughter bond was stronger now more than ever, and they both knew it.

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**Yay! She didn't die! YAY! I couldn't bear to hurt all of you by kiling Harmony, i'm sorry, i just couldn't do it. Review and tell me what your opinion on the moon (or this chapter) is. **


	33. Chapter 33

"How is she doing?" Eric murmured to his wife, and she sighed, dabbing a cool cloth all along Harmony's face. He looked for a moment to his left and smiled when he saw Melody curled up, fast asleep on the window seat. Her bare feet stuck out of her nightgown, as her head was on the small pillow and she was facing away from the window so she didn't catch the glare of the now rising sun. They'd be home by sunset, quite awhile to go.

"Not good." Ariel said with another heavy sigh, wishing Harmony wasn't having such high fevers. That and she wished she was back home already. Getting from Morgana's to their home was a long ride back unfortunately. But at least Ariel had managed to clean up her daughter's, many, many cuts, which had long stopped bleeding. "Look at her arms." Ariel said softly, turning up Harmony's right arm to show Eric the cuts all along it.

"Either ice fell exactly like slashes on her arms...or she's been cutting herself." Eric said, sitting next to his wife on the couch. He'd placed her there maybe a few hours before, and Ariel had been looking after her and Melody in the ship's cabin while he'd been out on the deck.

"Melody told me that Harmony cuts herself....to take the pain of leaving her world behind away." Ariel stated softly, as she pressed the cool cloth on Harmony's forehead. The girl was still shivering, even though she was burning up and she had a thick blanket around her.

"We can't choose what world she wants to be in Ariel, only she can." Eric said softly, as he took Ariel's hands in his and motioned his head for the other couch. "Why don't you get some sleep? You look like you need it." Eric stated, and Ariel tiredly grimaced. She hadn't looked at her reflection in the mirror since Attina had brushed out her hair....she wouldn't know how bad she looked.

"No, I'm fine. I'll look after the girls; you go....do whatever it is your doing." Ariel said with a dismissive wave of the hand to Eric's cocky grin at what she didn't know.

"Guiding the ship back home?" He filled in for her, and Ariel softly laughed, and nodded.

"Yes that." She said with a kiss to his cheek before leaning down at brushing a few tendrils of Harmony's red hair---_her_ red hair---away from her face. Eric just looked at his wife and sighed, knowing her stubborn will. But with her stubborn will, came his voice of reason.

"Ariel sleep. I think I can look after our daughters for awhile." Eric said, nodding his head to the other couch. Ariel only smiled softly at him, thinking of when he said 'daughters'. When she found out that she had twin girls, she'd been happy....but she was afraid Eric wouldn't like them very much _because_ they were girls. Oh how she'd been wrong about that. When Eric found out that he was the father of two, as he put it 'extremely beautiful twin girls who took after their gorgeous mother' he'd been ecstatic, taking every opportunity to hold them, play with them, everything.

"Love, I'd hate to interrupt your daydream, but you should sleep. It'll do you some good." Eric teased, as Ariel, startled, was pulled out of her little day dream and her laugh rang out at his tease.

"Alright, fine. I'll sleep, but only if you sing me to sleep." Ariel's request was one that was common for her...and commonly shot down too.

"Ah, now that's not fair." Eric said, as Ariel tugged on their intertwined hands so that she could go to the other couch and rest her head against Eric's chest. She loved him so much.....

"True. But if you don't I won't talk to you ever again." Ariel's threat was a tease, she and Eric both knew it. Her mouth had not stopped moving since the day she got her voice back....and Eric hadn't stopped listening since then either.

"Oh, how much of a pain that will be." Eric teased her, putting both his hands to his heart as if he was dying. Ariel gave him a small laugh and wrapped a blanket around her and him.

"Stop it Eric." She warned in what she tried to be as serious voice, but ended up being a giggle. Oh how she missed him! And now that she was back with him.....well, let's just say their bedroom door would be locked for awhile when they got back home. "Please? All I want is a simple old lullaby from when you were a boy." Ariel said, her eyes closed but mouth still moving. Eric sighed, but relented, giving her a half smile.

"Okay, fine." He said, and then he started to hum softly a small lullaby from his childhood, which put him, and Ariel right to sleep. He was just so tired from searching for Harmony....and Ariel was equally, if not more tired from searching for the girl....and almost losing her in the process.

Eric was awoken by a soft knock on the cabin door. He had fallen asleep? Well, he _had_ been tired. Gently, he disentangled himself from Ariel, and ran his fingers through his jet black hair. Walking to the cabin door, he opened it with an expectant expression.

"I'm sorry to disturb you sir, but we're almost back at the palace, and you said you'd like to be notified when we were." Alfred, one of his best ship mates and buddies said, and Eric nodded.

"Thank you Alfred. I'll start waking everyone up." Eric said with a small grin, pointing a thumb behind him at his wife and daughters. His ship mate nodded and smiled, bowing and leaving Eric be.

"Ariel, love, time to wake up." Eric murmured to his wife, gently shaking her. His gaze shifted out the window then, to find that it was already the early evening. Furrowing his brows he looked at the grandfather clock. Already seven at night? It took awhile to get back home.

"Mhm? Eric?" Ariel called out and Eric was once again only focused on her, and her alone. Smiling, he kissed her lips tenderly, a wake up kiss. That's how Snow White and Sleeping Beauty woke up....maybe it'll work for Ariel too. "Nice." Ariel murmured, rubbing her eyes as she sat up and looked blearily at him. He'd been right, that little nap _had_ helped her.

"I have to go out on the deck, can you wake up Melody?" Eric asked, although he knew what the answer was before Ariel even did it. Groan. Waking up a teenager was not anyone's idea of 'fun'. But sighing she still nodded and he grinned, kissing her forehead and going outside.

"Melody, wake up. Mel-lody...." Ariel murmured so she didn't wake up Harmony, who wasn't shivering it seemed. Thank goodness, Ariel said in her mind. "Wake up sweetheart." Ariel murmured still, and the teen finally relented, sitting up and not even bothering to run a finger through her hair. She'd be going back to bed in minutes anyway.

"Are we back home?" She wondered sleepily, yawning, as she brought her knees to her chest, almost falling back asleep. Almost.

"Yes, we are." Ariel said, as she felt the ship stop and the anchor be dropped. Good, they had reached the palace dock. Looking back at Melody see realized the teen had somehow managed to lie back down on the window seat. Shaking her head and smiling, Ariel took the girl's elbow and lifted her up. "Hey! Don't go back to sleep now." Ariel said to her daughter, as Melody groaned, but at least stayed awake. Blearily, and her mind still foggy, she looked at Harmony for a moment, not recognizing who it was. Then it hit her. Right, Morgana, Harmony, twin....yeah. Wait!

"Why does Harmony get to stay asleep." Melody grumbled as she yawned again and Ariel left her sitting up on the window seat as she went over to the couch that Harmony was on and stuck a thermometer in her daughter's mouth.

"She's sick Melody. And hurt." Ariel answered, almost adding, 'Oh yeah, and she almost DIED, so you know, she get's priority over you right now.'

"Right." Melody said, her mind still a jumbled mess. Ariel sighed and took the thermometer out of her daughter's mouth to look at it for a moment, before frowning and looking back up to Melody.

"What's 103 Fahrenheit in Atlantican sweetheart?" Ariel asked, and Melody closed her eyes for a moment, thinking this through. While her tutors had schooled her in Fahrenheit, her mother the year before had helped school her in the Atlantican system of measurements, temperatures, that thing. Ariel had pretty much gotten the hang of it after 13 years on land, but she still got confused with temperatures.

"Um....110, for sure." Melody answered, as Ariel sighed, deflated looking back at Harmony. Melody really hadn't minded learning the Atlantican system for things from her mother; it had showed that her mother was showing her more of her mermaid heritage.

"We docked. Come on." Eric said, coming back into the cabin with a grin. Ariel looked pointedly at Harmony, and he smiled at her. "I remembered." He said with a teasing look, as Ariel rolled her eyes.

"Of course you didn't." Ariel muttered under her breathe, but watched as Melody jumped off the window seat and run out of the cabin, and most likely back into the palace where she could go to bed and sleep.

"Come on Ariel, let's get the doctor to tape her up." Eric said, and Ariel sighed, shaking her head as she stood up from the couch as Eric picked up Harmony easily in his arms, and dropped her off in her own room. And while Ariel helped get the clothes off of her so that the girl could get into a nice warm nightgown, Eric got the doctor.


	34. Chapter 34

".....heard that people in coma's can hear you if you talk, and even though Mom and Dad said that you're not in a coma, I think you are because you sleeps for a full three days straight?" Kathy winced mentally as whoever was talking moved on the bed, shifting her. God, every part of her freaking body hurt! What happened? Well, she'd never know unless she opened her eyes.....but she was too lazy to do that right now.

"I'm really sorry about all of what happened....and I'm really sorry that you're sick on our birthday too. If it makes you feel any better, I got grounded for the next two months. And I can't go outside for to the sea for the next week! Do you know how hard that's going to be for me?! Still.....I got what I deserved. Mom and Dad wanted me to still have a party, but I said that I wouldn't have it without you 'cuz you're my sister and sister's stick together.....most of the time anyway." The voice sighed again, and Kathy felt as though someone had pulled a blindfold over her eyes.

What happened? Was she in the hospital? And why did the girl say 'Mom' and 'Dad' as if these were her parents to? Where was Ryan? Why didn't she hear that machine that went 'beep, beep, beep, beeeeeep'? What happened?!

Oh. Shit, she almost died! Her name was Harmony; she had a sister....Morgana, the Triton, talking fish.....either it was all a dream, or this was a freaky summer. Wincing from the pain in her pounding head, she slowly opened her eyes to embrace...a really hot sun shining in her face. Lovely first image when you wake up from a coma.

"M-Melody?" She managed to croak out; clenching her eyes shut then as a fresh wave of pain hit her like one of those dumbbells in cartoons.

"Oh! Harmony! Everyone was so worried!" Melody squealed, as she hugged her sister tightly. The girl groaned loudly from the pain, and Melody immediately released her sheepishly smilingly. "Here, this is from Mom and Dad....it's our birthday." Melody said, handing a wrapped present to her sister and curiously looking at it as the girl's sore right arm managed to rip off the wrapping and look at the package.

"Pastels? But how did they know....?" Harmony started, but Melody cut her off with a shrug.

"Mom. She saw how your old ones were really worn down....so they got you knew one for our birthday. Actually not a bad present, since you like to draw and yours were....crappy, I guess is the only way to describe them." Melody said with a grin to her sister's raised brows. Harmony gently placed the pastels on the other side of her gianormous bed and then looked up at Melody.

"How bad am I injured? 'Cuz it feels like every part of me is on fire." Harmony said in a quiet tone, wincing at another wave of pain.

"Um....you broke four ribs, bruised two, broke your right ankle and your left arm was really, really badly broken....you have a bad cut on your forehead, but you didn't have to get stitches on it like you did on the back of your head...you have a bunch of bruises and cuts, and you've been having fevers for the past three days." Melody said glumly, and Harmony groaned, wincing.

"But other than that, I'm so fine I can run a mile." She said sarcastically, and Melody laughed lightly, but then sighed as she saw the look on her sister's face.

"I really am sorry for what I said." She stated, so quiet that wind could only hear her. Harmony sighed, ignoring how that made her ribs throb with pain, and looked up at Melody.

"Why would you say that is what I don't get. You couldn't have just been mad about Alec kissing me." Harmony said in the same soft voice Melody had used, and the girl awkwardly waited for her answer.

"I-I don't know. I was just mad....and...oh, how can I make you understand? I wasn't just mad...I was scared....and then everything else happened...." Melody trailed off, but when she saw Harmony's confused look, she sighed and looked at her twin's eyes. "I was just mad because since I was a kid, I've been the center of attention. Princess Melody this, Princess Melody that, but when you came....it was like I was living in your shadow. Everything now was Harmony did this, and Harmony did that...and when I saw Alec kiss you, I thought that you were going to steal him, like you did everything else. So I said that....and then I watched you make the same mistake I did two years ago....again." Melody sighed out softly, and Harmony looked up, and with effort, sat up too.

"What are you not telling me Melody? I know your hiding something from me." Harmony said in a warning voice, and Melody looked up, confused and shocked....but then she looked back down, knowing that Harmony was right.

"I heard our parents talking....they said that when you were healed up more in like two months.....Grandfather is going to give you a choice of going back to your old world...or stay here." Melody said, as Harmony's eyes went colossal. The chance to go back home....why did that suddenly make her feel, no so happy anymore?

"Please, please choose to stay. I-I'm really, really, sorry for what I said about you, and I didn't mean it, but please don't go. I never realized until a few days ago how much I always wanted a sister." Melody said as her eyes crusted over in tears. Harmony couldn't leave her, she just couldn't! She was the real harmony to Melody's melody.

"I don't want to talk about this. I'm going to go down to the beach, okay?" Harmony said, painfully getting to her feet. Her right foot screamed in pain, but she ignored it completely and limped to her dressing room to pull on a dress and then leave to the beach.

She stayed down there for hours, staring out at the surf, and just thinking. The chance to go back to Nebraska was wonderful....so why did she get that torn-in-two feeling? A few days ago in a heartbeat she would have said 'yes!' if someone had asked her that....but no one had. This life had rubbed off on her....but she couldn't stay! This wasn't her childhood home, or her town! But on the other hand, she couldn't leave either. Leaving meant never coming back....she'd finally meant her real family, but her old one was still there. Closing her eyes, she let the sound of the waves crashing over the sand fill her ears, as she started to sing.

"_What can I believe in  
Two worlds, two families  
How do I trust my heart  
I must decide  
To choose which world is right for me_

Harmony looked back at the palace, smiling a little to herself before continuing on. _  
A princess in one life  
Living within a palace filled with love  
The glamour life, by the sea_

Kathy looked out at the sea then, another small smile on her lips as she thought of Nebraska.

_Just a teen girl in Nebraska though  
My childhood filled with love A cozy town, with my best buds _

The girl looked at the sand in between her fingers_, _sighing as she looked out at the horizon, closing her eyes and letting the sounds and smells beach take over her senses.

_Somewhere something is calling for me  
Two worlds, one family  
But how do I trust my heart  
I must decide  
To choose which life is right for me."_


	35. Chapter 35

"Melody said you'd be out here." A voice beside the teen said. The girl spoke not one word, and just sat there, looking out at the sunset. Which world would she end up deciding....and how would she be able to give it up? The glamour, sea, and castle, or the jeans, pool, and her childhood home.

"I have two questions to ask you. One of them is easy: how did Morgana die...the other one is harder." She wasn't Harmony, or Kathy right now, she was just that teen girl who didn't know who she was. Or where she wanted to be.

"You'll have nightmares if I answer your first question." Ariel pointed out as she sat on the sand next to Harmony. She had heard the girl sing, and she sounded.....confused. As though she didn't know where she belonged, or how to get there.

"I have nightmares now anyway. I want to know how she died." The teen said with a sigh, her eyes still closed as she took in the natural beauty without her sight. She could feel the sand, hear the waves and the sea gulls, smell the salt water, taste the heavy air all around the palace.

"Alright." Ariel answered, knowing that the girl had a point. She made no move to hug her, or even tell her everything would be alright...because it wouldn't be. Whatever she choose would be the foundation for what she wanted in her life. "If you remember, you had the Triton pointed at her so she wouldn't hurt you. And then....I can't explain what happened next. Your Grandfather was even stumped....no one knew how a child could create that amount of force and propel it from the Triton. Morgana was hit by it....and then she screamed and tripped over her tentacles...falling."

Ariel didn't want to lie to Harmony, but she had to. The girl had actually destroyed the sea witch with that....ball of glowing power that she had conjured up somehow, making the witch just blow up. No telling what that could do to her still growing mind.

"I know you're lying to me, but I don't care." The teenager said softly into the evening now, wishing she had the guts to ask for the truth.

"What's your next question?" Ariel asked without surprise or hesitation. In the thirteen years the girl had been gone and then suddenly reappeared, Ariel had come to expect these things from her.

"Two worlds hold a part of my heart, and with them, two very different families. One of them I grew up in with my friends, and everything always seemed perfect there. In the other world, I have my _real_ family, and I'm a princess whose backyard is the sea. I belong in both worlds." The girl said with that same quiet tone. How much this hurt! Why did she have to choose what world she wanted to live in? She was only fourteen...barely a teenager.

"So what's your question?" Ariel asked softly, as the girl sighed again, and finally opened her eyes and looked up at Ariel.

"If both worlds hold a piece of me....how will I know which one to choose?" She finally whispered. Ariel looked into the blue eyes of her daughter, and gave the only advice she could. She sang.

"_There are things in life you'll learn and  
In time you'll see  
Cause out there somewhere  
It's all waiting  
If you keep believing  
So don't run, don't hide  
It will be all right  
You'll see, trust me  
I'll be there watching over you__believing__So don't run, don't hide  
It will be all right  
You'll see, trust me  
I'll be there watching over you_  
_Everything changes  
You'll be amazed what you'll find  
If you look through my eyes_

Just take a look through my eyes  
There's a better place  
somewhere out there  
Just take a look through my eyes  
Everything changes  
You'll be amazed what you'll find  
If you look through my eyes

There will be times on this journey  
All you'll see is darkness  
Out there somewhere daylight finds you  
If you keep

Just take a look through my eyes  
There's a better place  
somewhere out there  
Just take a look through my eyes  
Everything changes  
You'll be amazed what you'll find  
If you look through my eyes

All the things that you can change  
There's a meaning in everything  
And you will find all you need  
There's so much to understand

Just take a look through my eyes  
There's a better place  
somewhere out there  
Just take a look through my eyes

Take a look through my eyes

No matter what you choose, remember that I'll always be there with you. If not in spirit, than in body. I promise." Ariel finally said, lifting her daughter's chin up with one of her knuckles. The girl looked into Ariel's blue eyes, and a tear rolled down her face.

"Thanks Mom." She whispered, as her own blue eyes took in everything around her. It wouldn't be easy, but like she had said before, it was only a sonata away from her. The question was, would she reach out and grab it?

* * *

**And that, is finally the ending! Whew! Wow, what a great and long story! Do you guys want a sequel? Or just leave it the way it is now? I'll wait for your answers in the reviews! Thanks! **


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